Around Russia

Sniper shooting

February 3, 2014 Alexander Golts

The Munich Security Conference is always a serious test for domestic chiefs. The insidious representatives of the West strive to plunge something conciliatory, about the need for mutually beneficial cooperation, for example. It is firmly ordered by ours to give a proper rebuff. So, speaking last Saturday in Munich, the NATO Secretary General Anders Fog Rasmussen made a question of cooperation one of the most important. The Natovets went so far that he began to point out specific steps "to create a genuine strategic partnership between NATO and Russia." In particular, I proposed to move forward in negotiations on the pro: "I propose to establish a reasonable deadline and reach pragmatic agreements on how to move on."

Rasmussen encroached on the holy - on the domestic nuclear policy. Following the American president, he said: "We want to see progress on reducing a number of strategic nuclear weapons." At the same time, he emphasized: “In NATO we are ready to talk about the transparency of these weapons, and I urge Russia to participate in these negotiations with us. But Russia should be prepared to discuss these issues without preliminary conditions. ”

As far as you can understand, the NATO Secretary General indicates readiness to accurately name the number and location of American nuclear bombs in Europe (experts estimate their number one and a half hundred). At the same time, Rasmussen honestly said that, in his opinion, Russia's requirements for NATO to dismantle all nuclear weapons in Europe before starting negotiations, would not lead to anything.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry was clearly not ready to react: there were no teams from the Kremlin on the resumption of specific negotiations on the pro and on atomic weapons in Europe. Therefore, Lavrov did not find anything better than reproaching Rasmussen for making his proposals publicly: “The aspects that he presented here did not express to me. If there is interest to talk seriously, then this must be done not through the audience, but in the framework of direct contacts in the Russia-NATO Council and through our regular meetings with the Secretary General of NATO. ”

It seems that official Moscow, frightened by the events in Ukraine, set itself the goal of seriously scaring the West with its inadequacy. Here is the “Russian newspaper” publishes an article that the “perimeter” system is still functioning for us. The system that should automatically start all the missiles that survived after the insidious sudden nuclear strike of the Americans. As soon as the connection with the president and the General Staff is interrupted, the command of all nuclear forces passes to the unknown officer of the “perimeter”, who launches the “command missile”. And she, in turn, automatically drives all the nuclear forces of Russia.

For many serious researchers, the “perimeter” is a symbol of paranoia and the Cold War. Someone believed that after Yeltsin and Bush Sr. agreed on mutual non-butter of the missiles, the “perimeter” was disconnected. It turns out that no. So tremble Pindos, God forbid, from a friend of the colonel, the young wife will leave for the senior lieutenant. California with Texas will not seem little ...

And then the enemy The New-York Times reported that our guys are experiencing a new medium-range missile in order to get out of the treacherous RSMD agreement. And exactly at that moment, the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for disarmament Mikhail Ulyanov told Intefax that Moscow could also withdraw from the strategic offensive weapons agreement at any time. Ignore, they say, in Washington, our legal concern about American missile defense.

The dream of reason, as you know, gives rise to monsters. In the past 7-8 years, Moscow has been building its own policy against the United States, parodying nuclear deterrence. The Kremlin pretends that he seriously believes: Russia's security depends on whether it can destroy half of America in a response. In fact, in the context of globalization, the deterrence has lost its meaning: a successful nuclear blow to the United States will mean a catastrophe for Russia itself, the destruction of its economy and nature. However, the deterrence game allowed Putin to verbalize his constant dissatisfaction with America, which the Russian leader suspects of preparing the “color revolution”.

All this diplomatic game ended safely in the middle of last year, when the White House said that he was paused in relations with Russia. There was no one to complain. It was this circumstance that condemned, I suspect, domestic military and diplomats on a series of meaningless actions and statements. Moreover, from the point of view of the real, non -parody restraint, the realization of these threats will turn Russia into a cowboy that shoots itself in the knee. How can Moscow get out of the START agreement if this agreement actually limits only American nuclear weapons (which are now almost twice as much as Russian). Former Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov said at one time in the State Duma that Russia could reach the ceiling on nuclear weapons no earlier than 2028. The exit of Russia from the contract until this moment will allow the United States (if they want to, of course) only increase its superiority.

The same story with periodically repeated threats about the exit from the contract under medium and lower -range missiles. When forty years ago the USSR decided to deploy medium -range missiles, he wanted to achieve military superiority over the United States. The number of strategic carriers was then limited to the OSV-1 agreement, and medium-range missiles did not fall under restrictions. Now there is no sense in this: Moscow is free to build as much strategic missiles as it can. Another question is that now everything is limited not by agreements, but by economic and production capabilities.

Russian bosses can practice these empty threats exactly until the United States ignores them. If a real arms race begins, Russia, which does not have the ability to mobilize resources, certainly cannot withstand it. Putin understands this: for all the years of government, he never risked to realize his threats to the West in practical actions. It was worth at the end of last year to be suspicious that the Russian Tactical missiles “Iskander” were deployed in the Kaliningrad region, he immediately stated that no decisions were made on this subject. So all these threats are nothing more than awkward, in the Putin manner, the US proposal to resume negotiations on the pro. But these are not at all the negotiations with a specific date of their completion, which is offered by the Secretary General of NATO. The Kremlin achieves the resumption of endless and meaningless gatherings, allowing the Kremlin to blame the United States loudly in all their troubles ...

Photo by ITAR-TASS