Russian Warnings Continue to Fall on Deaf Ears, But For How Long?

Day by day, the world is moving closer to an all-out, direct war between NATO and Russia. One by one, Western countries have crossed the limits they themselves had set, apparently believing that since Moscow has not yet responded with full force, they can go even further. The latest move is the incursion, allegedly by Ukrainian forces alone, into the Kursk region of Russia. And yet, the Russian leaders have repeatedly warned that they will respond. In fact, the Special Military Operation into Ukraine, launched in March 2022, was in no way “unprovoked”, as NATO claims, it was such a response.

Just two days before the incursion, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Rossiya-1 TV that “the era of Moscow’s unilateral concessions [to the U.S. and NATO] is now definitely over”. The problem, he went on, “is that there are no circuit breakers anymore…. Strikes on the territory of Russia are allowed. The Americans’ assurances that no such decisions have been made and no indulgences were granted to Kiev, are worthless.”

The former head of the Carnegie Institute Moscow, Dmitri Trenin, wrote Aug. 15 that “Russia has already exhausted its reserve of verbal warnings”, and rather than “reacting to the enemy’s escalatory steps”, Moscow should take the strategic initiative. As for Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev, former head of the Russian Security Council and current head of the Maritime Collegium, he told Izvestia (Aug. 16) that “without their [Washington’s] participation and direct support, Kyiv would not have risked entering the territory of Russia.” Now, President Zelenskyy has vowed to increase operations on Russian territory, which would likely include the Crimean bridge, but his own future is far from certain (cf. below).

The President of Belarus Lukashenko raised an alarming hypothesis in an interview Aug. 18 with Rossiya-1. “Ukraine’s escalations in the Kursk region is an attempt to push Russia into asymmetric actions, let’s say the use of nuclear weapons”. Ukraine, he warned, would be “very happy” if tactical nuclear weapons were used, as it would discredit Russia throughout the world.

The mobilization needed to counter such dangers will be addressed at the next meeting of the International Peace Coalition per Zoom on Aug. 23 at 5 pm. (Send an email to questions@schillerinstitute.org to receive a link to the meeting.)