RUSSIA DECLARES RIGHT TO DEPLOY NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN CRIMEA — AND, MAY HAVE ALREADY DONE SO

by RC Porter 

March 11, 2015

Russia Declares Right To Deploy Nuclear Weapons In Crimea — And, May Have Already Done So

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Adam Withnall, writing on the British newspaper, The Independent’s website this morning (Mar. 11, 2015) notes that “Russia has said it has the right to deploy nuclear weapons to Crimea; — one year after Vladimir Putin seized the territory from Ukraine.” “I don’t know if there are nuclear weapons there now,” a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman told The Interfax News Agency on Wednesday. “I don’t know about any plans; but in principal, Russia can do it.,” said Mikhail Ulyanov, who head’s the ministry’s department on arms control.” As Mr. Withnall notes, “these statements come amidst increasingly bold statements by the Kremlin, of how it took Crimea. Yesterday, Tuesday, it “emerged that Vladimir Putin only allowed the people of Crimea to hold a referendum on joining Russia, after an “unofficial” poll showed a majority of citizens in Crimea would vote in favor of joining Russia.”

Mr. Withnall adds that “Russian state-run TV channel, Rossiya One is preparing to run a documentary about the annexation entitled: :Crimea: The Road Back Home,” which include some startling revelations by the Kremlin. These include the moment Putin ordered officials to begin the process of seizing Crimea — the night of February 22, 2015 — long before the March 16, 2015 referendum. The documentary reveals that the Kremlin’s decision to take Crimea, came as a direct response to Ukraine ousting its pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovich — and, the operation to evacuate him involved heavy weapons, “so there wouldn’t be much discussion about it.”

No one should really be surprised by these revelations; and, Putin’s increasingly bold statements about his blatant intentions to reclaim some of the Soviet Union’s prior territorial sphere of influence. Then POTUS Bill Clinton persuaded Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for a U.S./Ukraine treaty, whereby the U.S. guaranteed Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty. Obviously, the U.S. did not honor this treaty; serving to only embolden Putin to continue his slow seizure of former Soviet territories. Putin has sized up POTUS Obama and his national security team of Susan Rice and company — and found them wanting, and weak. Putin has no fear of the United States, and is likely betting that Europe won’t have the stomach to follow through on harsher sanctions against Russia. And, since the U.S. has no intention of honoring its previous pledge to Ukraine, Putin has made the calculation that Washington doesn’t really care all that much about Ukraine’s territorial integrity, nor our previous promises to come to their aid if ever challenged — as they are now. It is truly a sad state of affairs; and, not one of America’s more finer moments. Our enemies and adversaries don’t fear us; and, out allies don’t trust us. V/R, RCP