PNN – Thomas Buchanan, the spokesman of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), emphasized that the US military is ready to use nuclear weapons if necessary and said: But we will do this only on terms acceptable to the country and its interests.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, quoting Rasha Today, the spokesperson of the US Strategic Command stated that Washington has no desire to be in a situation where it is forced to exchange nuclear attacks and seeks to avoid such a scenario and said: We call for continued dialogue with Russia, China and North Korea to reduce the risk of a nuclear conflict.
Buchanan continued by emphasizing that nuclear weapons are political weapons: We hope that we will never find ourselves in a situation where we have to use this political tool as an operational tool, but even in the event of such a scenario, we must ensure that we maintain a portion of our nuclear arsenal for deterrence.
The United States Strategic Command, or STRATCOM for short, is one of the eleven integrated combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense.
The main task of this organization is to manage military satellites and intelligence gathering operations and to fight against weapons of mass destruction, as well as in connection with the anti-missile defense of the United States of America around the world.
In a statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow will respond to any action of the West and emphasized: We are ready to face any developments.
In a message addressed to Western countries supporting Ukraine, Putin stated that Russia has always preferred diplomacy over war: Moscow is ready to resolve all disputes through peaceful means.
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The President of Russia went on to emphasize that Moscow is ready for any developments, and noted: If anyone still has doubts about Russia’s response to hostile actions, they should put aside this doubt because there will be a response to every action.
Referring to Ukraine’s use of Western long-range weapons, Putin said: In response to this action of Kiev, the Russian army targeted one of Ukraine’s defense-industrial facilities in a combined attack using one of its newest medium-range missile systems.
The Russian President added: During this attack, a non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile named Orshnik was successfully tested in combat conditions.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force claimed in a statement that Russia had fired an ICBM towards the city of Dnipro in eastern central Ukraine for the first time in the war.
In this statement, the Ukrainian Air Force did not mention the exact type of this missile, but claimed that the attack was carried out from the Astrakhan region of Russia, near the Caspian Sea.
According to this statement, intercontinental ballistic missiles along with eight other missiles were fired towards the city of Dnipro, of which 6 missiles were shot down by Ukrainian forces.
Although the range of ICBMs to attack Ukraine seems excessive, the use of these missiles, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, could send a worrying message about Russia’s nuclear capability and the possibility of escalation of tensions.
Two days before the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the country’s new nuclear doctrine, which officially lowers the threshold for using nuclear weapons. This doctrine allows Russia to launch a nuclear attack even in response to a conventional attack by a country backed by a nuclear power.
Putin previously warned that Ukraine’s use of Western long-range weapons to attack Russian territory would mean a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.