Russia warns of “new Cuba missile crisis” as it threatens the West because of Ukraine – archyde

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has compared the tensions over Ukraine with the Cuban Missile Crisis and has demanded that the West act on its demands “here and now”

Russia has compared tensions over Ukraine and a possible invasion to the Cuban Missile Crisis and has insisted that the West meet its demands “here and now”.

Vladimir Putin rallied troops and heavy weapons on the border with Ukraine during the festive period and viewed a new round of major military exercises as another threat as Russia demands assurances that its neighbor will not join NATO.

Videos showed the latest Russian exercises when Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said there was little difference from the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which almost turned the Cold War into a nuclear conflict.

“No, not too much,†he said in an interview with Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn magazine.

There are fears of a Russian invasion of Western allied Ukraine sometime in 2022, with the US threatening serious sanctions if it does.

Ryabkov said Russia wants cast-iron guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO and promises that no blow weapons will be deployed in Eastern European countries that are members of the Western Alliance.

“I urge everyone who deals publicly with this issue to consider whether it is a shame for Russia to halfway fulfill Western demands for an ultimatum,” he said.

And he made it clear that “if we don’t make it” [through diplomacy], then open questions arise: What are the next steps and what needs to be done?

“We are against escalation, we are against conflicts, we do not draw lines in the sand, logic alone leads us to say that we are not ready to make peace with the current situation.”

He warned, “We can’t put off any longer, let’s get into this serious matter … here and now.”

He insisted: “We have to stop expanding NATO, NATO infrastructure and NATO capabilities further east.

“We have to exclude Ukraine from joining NATO.”

His words followed Putin’s statement on Russian television that “there is now no retreat”.

Putin said: “I want everyone, both in our country and abroad, to realize that our partners understand one thing …

“It’s not that we don’t want someone to cross a certain line. We have nowhere to retreat now. They pushed us against such a line … we have nowhere to go …

“As I said, they will deliver missile systems to Ukraine, a four to five minute flight time to Moscow. Well where should we go now?

“It’s just that they got us into the state where we have to tell them, ‘Stop!’ That’s it’.”

The exercises in Russia’s western military district included exercises to repel a massive air strike by a simulated enemy on strategic facilities, Defense Ministry-owned TV Zvezda said.

Around 1,000 soldiers took part with deployed weapons, including modern anti-aircraft missile systems S-300V, Tor-M2 and portable anti-aircraft missile systems Igla.

The footage also appeared to show a Buk-M3.

The pictures came despite the announcement that around 10,000 soldiers would have left the Ukrainian border area before Russia’s ten-day New Year holiday.

Russia also said that 500 scout officers carried out sharp fire drills in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine.

“The soldiers fired standard weapons at targets simulating the enemy’s military equipment and manpower. During the exercise, soldiers conducted live fire training with all types of standard small arms and practiced army tactical firing skills,” a statement said in a statement of the Russian Southern Military Command.

“Fire training is the basis of combat training for reconnaissance units and is carried out in all weather and terrain.”

Exercises recently took place in the Krasnodar Territory, which borders Ukraine, and in Crimea, which was annexed by Kiev in 2014.

These were paratroopers from the Novorossiysk Airborne Division with more than 1,200 soldiers involved.

Putin’s ally Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the oil-rich Chechen Republic, announced that troops from his region were ready to invade Ukraine if the Kremlin gave the order.

“With the existence of Kiev, there is always a place for the West to station its military bases there and dictate its demands on our country,” he said.

“I’m sure our president wouldn’t let that happen. We [Chechnya] are ready to be deployed anywhere as infantry troops and to carry out orders without any problems. “

Russia also sent two new warships from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea minesweeper Georgy Kurbatov and the logistics support ship Vsevolod Bobrov.