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submitted 8 months ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world

President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine it would be considered a significant escalation of the war.

Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not "rushing" up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

"From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready," Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war.

Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory - or to Ukraine - Russia would treat the move as an intervention.

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[-] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 51 points 8 months ago

He starts sounding like Kim Jong Un.

[-] elbarto777@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago
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[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 31 points 8 months ago

It's like he's standing in front of a mirror, flexing his muscles, whispering to himself he's the biggest and toughest mf'er around.

Just what the world needs. An imbecilic jackass who's nuclear capable.

[-] littlebluespark@lemmy.world 16 points 8 months ago

Just what the world needs. Another imbecilic jackass who's nuclear capable.

There. FTFY.

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 7 points 8 months ago

Thanks. It is better than the original. 👍

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[-] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 30 points 8 months ago

“If you help Ukraine, we might end all life on earth”. Putin knows that nuclear war is unwinnable, and would destroy his empire as well, so if he’s a rational actor, the only use of nuclear weapons is as a prop for bluffing.

[-] oKtosiTe@lemmy.world 22 points 8 months ago

if he’s a rational actor

That’s a pretty gigantic if there.

[-] KISSmyOS@feddit.de 15 points 8 months ago

Putin is a rational actor. And his actions have been wildly successful so far in achieving his goals.
(Improving the lives of the Russian people is not among those goals)

[-] toastus@feddit.de 9 points 8 months ago

Well to a degree.

He certainly didn't want Sweden and Norway to join NATO and I doubt he wanted a multi year long war in Ukraine.

But I do agree that he certainly won't throw nukes just cause hurr durr he is such a crazy dictator.

Yep, he's a tactician but not a strategist. He makes individual moves and bets that can be very successful. Like supporting/blackmailing (?) Trump, and interfering with the 2016 election. That was an incredible payoff for him. But he's not in control strategically.

He is very rational, though, and would not cross a line that would force a US response that would remove him from power. Which is exactly what would happen if seriously attempted to initiate nuclear war, and if pretty much anyone but Trump was president.

[-] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 8 points 8 months ago

He likes his palaces, wants to enjoy them, and wants the children he had with his mistresses to inherit them, surely.

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[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 25 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Ruzzias latest "final warning", LOL.

Fuck around & find out. If US troops are defending Ukraine, it's too late for you Putin. At that point the Ruzzian Federation is at its end, one way or another, regardless of which button you push.

[-] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

You know if Puntin was going down he is crazy enough to want to take the world with him. So be careful what you wish for.

[-] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 18 points 8 months ago

So what? Then he'd do it either way. That doesn't mean we should hiss the white flag and let him do as he pleases. Nuclear deterrence is not supposed to work like a blackmail to launch offensive operations against everyone else.

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 7 points 8 months ago

It was designed to do exactly that.

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[-] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de 24 points 8 months ago

Is it wednesday again already?

[-] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 8 points 8 months ago
[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 5 points 8 months ago

China’s final warning.

[-] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 21 points 8 months ago

I wonder if the cold war got this boring and obnoxious too or if that's more a symptom of our modern & fast communication. Hearing those weekly nuclear threats is nothing but a clown show at this point.

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 10 points 8 months ago

First, I prefer boring vs bombs.

Secondly yes, the cold war was like this with all the Soviet leaders except Gorbachev.

[-] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 5 points 8 months ago

It's just the cold war was always displayed as this phase of fear and uncertainty. However, I just feel tired and annoyed by the constant babbling. Like, when I constantly read those nuclear threats from Russia I don't shudder and cower, I just roll my eyes and groan.He should either throw the bombs and end civilization or just shut up already. It's not like anyone could do anything about it either, so why even give a fuck about it?

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 4 points 8 months ago

I get it. It is boring rhetoric and simply shows Putin in a dick-measuring contest with himself.

But Ukraine cares 'cause Congress' power struggle is directly affecting their ability to battle against that fuckwad for their lives and country.

Maybe Putin made a mistake here tho by (possibly) showing his hand, ie: he may be considering the use of a low yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine and used this "warning" to keep America at bay. This is only a guess tho.

[-] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

Bombing drills in schools instead of active shooter drills I think was a big difference domestically. There was a little gap there from around the mid 1990s to the early 2000s without either, but I got to see the tail end of one and then the introduction of the other.

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[-] MeanEYE@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago

Oh, I thought it was tuesday, he said the same thing last tuesday, and the day before, and last week. And at the start of the war.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago

I'm pretty sure they've been ready for nuclear war since 1949.

[-] DarkGamer@kbin.social 15 points 8 months ago
[-] tal@lemmy.today 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Not really the same scenario.

China repeatedly warned the US in situations where the US was likely to do something. The US went right ahead and did it anyway, and China didn't do anything.

Putin is warning the US about if the US sends troops, a scenario that the US has consistently said -- as recently as the last few weeks -- that it does not intend to do.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/white-house-rules-out-sending-troops-to-ukraine-biden-administration-says-there-will-be-no-u-s-soldiers-on-the-ground-after-french-president-macron-said-western-forces-were-a-possibility/ar-BB1j0b3d

White House spokesman John Kirby said France was a 'sovereign nation' which, like any other NATO country, could make its own decision on whether to send troops to Ukraine.

But he added: 'The only U.S. military personnel in Ukraine are associated with the embassy...The president's been clear. There's not going to be U.S. troops on the ground.'

That's probably a pretty safe warning for Putin to issue, because the US is unlikely to do what he's warning about.

[-] DarkGamer@kbin.social 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

This isn't the first time they threatened nukes. Lines were crossed, and nothing happened. These threats no longer seem credible.

[-] Suoko@feddit.it 11 points 8 months ago

BTW, who's gonna be his successor once he'll pass away? Has that already been decided?

[-] Lath@kbin.earth 13 points 8 months ago

Nope. Any potentials are staying quiet in order to avoid accidentally exiting through a window.

[-] Suoko@feddit.it 4 points 8 months ago

So no list of names has been written? Neither a son in case it bocomes a new monarchy? I can't believe it.

[-] Lath@kbin.earth 5 points 8 months ago

To be honest, without looking it up, I don't even know how many kids he has.
They did a good job staying out of the limelight or the media is too scared to go after them. Either way, there's little I can say about them.

Nah, for now i rather think one of the oligarchs will eventually come out of the shadows to take over as the public figure while the rest keep them in check as counsel. They've been kept on a tight leash long enough to not want it happen for another generation.

[-] Hubi@feddit.de 4 points 8 months ago

Nothing official, but I believe it's likely to be Nikolai Patrushev

[-] Zeppo@sh.itjust.works 11 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

"Technically" ready isn't much of a boast about anything. Basically "yeah, you know we have nuclear weapons. Well, so we checked and they do work!" Well guess what Vladdo, the United States, France, the UK are also 'technically ready'. But anyway, this is very different than saying we're politically or strategically ready, so it's not really news. Of course there are those soulless cretins on Russian TV discussing nuking Europe often, but nobody with a brain considers that anything other than an aggressive jerk-off session.

[-] TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee 9 points 8 months ago

Nuclear weapons are incredibly expensive to maintain. I bet with all the greed and stealing of funds the Russian brass enjoys, all the money earmarked for that has been stolen and spent on big anime titty babushkas and yachts.

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 8 points 8 months ago
[-] Socsa@sh.itjust.works 7 points 8 months ago

Tankies: why would the US do this?

[-] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

Sounds like Kim Jong Il, and his ineffectual son. I believe you Putin. I truly do.

[-] Suoko@feddit.it 4 points 8 months ago

He probably bought stocks of some nuclear shelter manufacturers...

[-] Twig@sopuli.xyz 3 points 8 months ago

"Our words are backed up with nukes"

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this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024
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