Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya believes that the desire of Western countries to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia requires retaliatory measures, including military ones. According to him, this is necessary to ensure the security of Russia and Belarus.
“Against the background of NATO’s openly declared desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, it is obvious that such actions require us to take all the necessary reciprocal steps, including in the military sphere, to ensure the security of the Union State of Russia and Belarus,” said Mr. Nebenzya, speaking at the meeting UN Security Council. “It is in this direction that the measures voiced by the President of Russia are going, which so frightened the Zelensky regime and its Western sponsors,” he added.
Vasily Nebenzya also stated that up to 150 US tactical nuclear weapons are deployed in the countries. At the same time, according to him, Russia recognizes that there can be no winners in a nuclear war. “Yes, we confirm that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, which was recorded in the joint statement of the leaders of Russia and the United States,” he said.
On April 29, 2022, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said: “Our goal is the strategic defeat of Putin. We want this military adventure to cost him dearly.”
On February 21, in a message to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of Russia’s participation in a treaty on the further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms. The President justified this decision by the statement of the leaders of the NATO countries regarding the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
Earlier today, President Vladimir Putin signed a new concept for Russia’s foreign policy. It says that threats to Russia’s security from “unfriendly” countries are recognized as “existential”. The document also states the right of Russia to use the armed forces to repel and prevent an armed attack on itself and its allies.
For more details, see Kommersant’s article “Russia has been assigned a unique identity and a global mission.”