After Russian President Vladimir Putin changed Russian nuclear doctrine to allow Russian nuclear strikes in retaliation for NATO attacks on Russia from Ukraine, NATO officials reiterated their threats to attack targets across Russia with long-range missiles. They make it clear that NATO is determined to allow shelling of targets deep in the Russian heartland, even if this provokes the Kremlin to use nuclear weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (left) signs bullets. Next to him is the deputy commander of the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton (Pennsylvania). Taken September 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Office of the Ukrainian Presidency) [AP Photo/Office of the Ukrainian Presidency]
In a speech at the US think tank Council on Foreign Relations on Friday, outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for Ukraine to be supplied with nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets and long-range cruise missiles. He stressed that NATO member states are ready to use these weapons to attack targets “very deep” in the Russian heartland:
All of these weapons are highly sophisticated, and some NATO countries have not restricted the use of these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory. Other Allies had restrictions, but most of them have relaxed them. … I understand the difference between deep, deeper and very deep in the Russian heartland, but basically we have already crossed these lines several times because we cannot accept that Russia is trying to gain control of Ukraine and us with all to prevent these various threats from supporting Ukraine.
NATO is essentially declaring its willingness to risk nuclear war. While Stoltenberg absurdly claimed that “deterrence is there to prevent war,” his comments demonstrate the exact opposite. Even the threat of Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal is not enough to deter NATO from committing to a massive bombardment of Russia. In fact, NATO has already shelled civilian residential areas of Russian cities and Russian military bases.
Stoltenberg went on to say that NATO was waging a global conflict, including against countries in Asia and the Middle East, which he described as “enablers” of Russia’s war in Ukraine. He condemned North Korea’s shipments of artillery shells, Iran’s shipments of drones and Chinese shipments of key industrial components to Russia.
Above all, Stoltenberg condemned China, the world’s second largest economy. He said:
We see them in Africa. We see them in the Arctic. … The microelectronics, the components used to build the bombs and missiles that Russia uses daily against Ukraine, are based on supplies from China. But if you then say that it is a regional issue, then that is not correct. The biggest enablers of Russia’s war are outside Europe: North Korea, Iran and China.
The arguments of NATO representatives – the deterrent is in place, or the Kremlin is just bluffing and would not risk an attack on NATO targets – are deliberate lies. With their massive escalation of attacks on Russia, they are inciting the Kremlin to take drastic retaliation, which will most likely include the use of nuclear weapons. The question is what interests are behind this extremely unscrupulous strategy, which threatens to provoke a nuclear war that, if escalated, could destroy all of humanity.
The NATO-backed Ukrainian army is currently facing defeat, and Stoltenberg’s comments make it clear that this is unacceptable to NATO’s major imperialist powers. If Russia is to be defeated militarily, they consider direct NATO intervention to be necessary. However, this is met with overwhelming resistance from the working class: a full 91 percent of North Americans and 89 percent of Western Europeans reject French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to send troops to Ukraine.
Despite bitter fighting within the ruling class, it is clear that powerful sections of the NATO bourgeoisie want to provoke Russia into retaliation. Apparently they are hoping that the political shock at home would create more favorable conditions for a Europe-wide war against Russia.
It is well known in official circles that ridiculous arguments like Stoltenberg’s that NATO can shell Russia without risking war are nothing but lies. According to a report by the New York Times On Friday, US intelligence agencies warn that NATO missile attacks on Russia will provoke Russian attacks on NATO targets.
The report reads: “US intelligence agencies believe that Russia is likely to retaliate with greater force, possibly with deadly attacks, against the United States and its coalition partners if they allow the Ukrainians to be attacked by the United States, the United Kingdom and France-supplied long-range missiles to attack deep in the Russian heartland.” It goes on to say that Russia’s response could range from “acts of sabotage against facilities in Europe to potentially deadly attacks on US and European military bases.”
On Friday, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Putin’s main remaining ally in Europe, unconscionably threatened to use nuclear weapons in response to a Polish-American attack on his country. At a public event in Minsk, he declared: “As soon as they attack us, we will use nuclear weapons. Russia will defend us. … If we use nuclear weapons, they will do the same. And also against Russia. So Russia will use its entire arsenal of weapons. This will be a world war. … We tell them openly: The red line is the state border. If you exceed them, we will react immediately.”
David North
30 Years of War: America’s Grab for World Domination 1990-2020
The United States has been waging war continuously since the first Gulf War in 1990-1991. Drawing on a Marxist understanding of the contradictions of US and world imperialism, David North analyzes the military interventions and geopolitical crises of the last 30 years.
The military considerations driving Russian and Belarusian officials to threaten to use nuclear weapons in NATO attacks against Russia are becoming increasingly clear. It is clear that the Ukrainian attack on the important Russian ammunition depot at Toropets a week ago has significantly weakened the Russian army. Even if it continues to maintain its superiority over the Ukrainian army, which has been bled dry by a nearly three-year war, it would now be in a much weaker position against NATO.
On Friday, the deputy commander of Estonian military intelligence, Lieutenant Colonel Janek Kesselman, gave a report on the attack on Toropets. He explained: “Having lost a significant amount of ammunition destined for the front, the Russian Federation will probably have to set priorities in the coming months.”
Previously, the head of Estonian military intelligence, Colonel Kiviselg, had given specific details about the Russian losses in ammunition due to the attack on Toropets: “30,000 tons of explosives exploded, which means 750,000 projectiles. If we take the average combat rate as a basis, we can assume that the Russian Federation fired 10,000 rounds per week. This means that ammunition for two to three months has been lost. As a result of this attack, Russia has suffered ammunition losses, the effects of which we will see on the front in the coming weeks.”
On Friday, Kesselman reported that the number of Russian incursions into Ukraine had dropped dramatically – from 226 per day the week before last to 155 per day last week. However, he added that the full impact of the attack on Toropets would likely only be felt “in two to three weeks” when Russian forward ammunition stocks are exhausted.
This highlights not only the ruthlessness of the NATO imperialist powers that are playing the main role in escalating the conflict, but also the bankruptcy of the post-Soviet capitalist regimes in Russia and Belarus. Given their inability to appeal to the massive anti-war sentiment of the international working class and their armies being outnumbered by the combined forces of the NATO powers, their only option is to threaten nuclear Armageddon. But even that is not enough to deter the NATO powers from further escalation.
The most urgent task arising from these developments is to build an international anti-war movement among the working class in order to stop capitalism’s ever-accelerating slide into a third world war.
