Russian State newspaper predict "Direct Military Conflict" with US

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Russian state newspapers predict ‘direct military conflict’ with US as it compares Syria stalemate to Cuban missile crisis

'Third World War' fears have been voiced by the newspapers over the growing tensions between the USA and Syria
A RUSSIAN newspaper fears a Third World War with the US over Syria.

Tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets predicts a “direct military confrontation” on par with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Putin and Obama shared a tense handshake at the G20 meeting in China

The US suspended relations with Russia over air strikes in Syria

The US suspended contact with Russia over Syria on Monday.

Secretary of State John Kerry has been enraged by airstrikes on rebel-controlled areas of Aleppo.

Hundreds of innocents are believed to have been killed in the attacks.

BBC Russia correspondent Steve Rosenberg referred to two Russian newspapers taking an aggressive tone towards the US.

In one article headlined ‘The stakes are higher than Syria’, the paper Moskovsky Komsomolets warns of a potential new war.

It states: “Just imagine that the US does what it has wanted to do for a long time and strike against Assad, not by mistake but on purpose and openly.

“Should Russia defend its ally or consider striking against the Americans but this would definitely lead to a Third World War.

“Russia can win big in Syria but it can also lose big too. We must not forget that in Syria we are playing an astonishingly risky game.”

Moskovsky Komsomolets adds that even its country's own fighters would not be confident in a war with the US.

"According to our fighter pilots, the best we could do is shoot down a few coalition forces but this would mean a full-scale war," it added.

Fighter jets of the Russkiye Vityazi [Russian Knights] aerobatic team perform during an air show

Veteran broadcaster Vladimir Pozner told the BBC: "There's a real feeling now that America is out to prove it is the only superpower.

"The continued expansion of Nato is seen by the Russian leadership, perhaps incorrectly, is seen as being a real threat.

"There is a danger of real confrontation, perhaps leading to some kind of military engagement and war."

It has previously been reported that Putin is preparing for war with the West.

Russia is already staging a massive evacuation drill to prepare for nuclear war.

More than 200,000 emergency services personnel and soldiers will use 50,000 pieces of equipment during the civil defence exercise.

 

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Russia suspends nuclear agreement, ends uranium research pact with United States

Russia further curtailed its cooperation with the United States in nuclear energy on Wednesday, suspending a research agreement and terminating one on uranium conversion, two days after the Kremlin shelved a plutonium pact with Washington.

The Russian government said that as counter-measures to the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine, it was putting aside a nuclear and energy-related research pact with the United States.

It also said it was terminating for the same reasons an agreement between its nuclear corporation Rosatom and the U.S. Department of Energy on feasibility studies into conversion of Russian research reactors to low-enriched uranium.

On Monday, President Vladimir Putin suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons grade plutonium, signaling he is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria.

"The regular renewal of sanctions against Russia, which include the suspension of Russian-American cooperation in the field of nuclear energy demands the adoption of countermeasures against the U.S. side," the Russian government said on its website.

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said the United States had not received an official notification from Russia although he had seen media reports of the suspension of the research agreement.

"If they're accurate, we would regret the Russian decision to unilaterally suspend cooperation on what we believe is a very important issue that's in the interest of both of our countries," spokesman Mark Toner said at a daily news briefing.

"UNFRIENDLY ACTS"

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the decisions were taken in response to "unfriendly acts" by Washington. They came two days after Washington said it was suspending talks with Russia on trying to end the violence in Syria.

The agreement on co-operation in nuclear and energy-related scientific research, signed in 2013, provided the legal framework necessary to expand work between U.S. and Russian nuclear research laboratories and institutes in nuclear technology and nonproliferation, among others.

The uranium agreement, signed in 2010, provided for feasibility studies into the conversion of six Russian research reactors from dangerous highly enriched uranium to more secure low enriched uranium.

"We can no longer trust Washington in such a sensitive area as the modernization and security of Russian nuclear facilities," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

It said that should Russia decide on the feasibility of the conversion of any research reactors to low-enriched uranium, it will carry the work itself. But it warned the conversion may not be "an end in itself."

"In some cases, including in the production of medical isotopes, highly enriched uranium is the most effective and renouncing its would be technically and economically inexpedient," the ministry said.

The West imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014, followed by a pro-Russian insurrection in the east of the country. The breakdown of a ceasefire in Syria, where Russia backs government forces and the West supports rebel groups, has added to tensions.

 

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US prepared ‘to fight’ in Russia, China missile defense zones – Naval ops chief

The USS Truxtun, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, enters the Black Sea port of Varna. © Impact Press Group / Reuters

The US Navy is seemingly ready to conduct operations in areas regarded as no-go missile areas, said the US Chief of Naval Operations. Such defense missile zones can be found at Russia’s and China’s coastlines.
This was announced by Admiral John Richardson during remarks made at the US Naval Institute – CSIS Maritime Security Dialogue.

He said that from now on the US Navy is “scaling down” the term ‘A2/AD’ (anti-access/area denial) from its communications.

Earlier, these areas were viewed as “an impenetrable keep out zone that forces can only enter at extreme peril to their existence, let alone their mission,” Richardson wrote in an article for the National Interest outlet.

“It’s a term bandied about pretty freely and lacks the precise definition it probably would benefit from, and that ambiguity sends a variety of signals,” he said on Tuesday.

“We’ll no longer use the term A2/AD as a stand-alone acronym [sic] that can mean all things to all people or anything to anyone – we have to be better than that,” Richardson said.

He went on to explain why the US military decided to ditch the reference.

“Since different theaters present unique challenges, a ‘one size fits all’ term to describe the mission and the challenge creates confusion, not clarity. Instead, we will talk in specifics about our strategies and capabilities relative to those of our potential adversaries, within the specific context of geography, concepts, and technologies,” he said.

According to Richardson, the current understanding of the term simplifies the real state of things which is “far more complex” than lines on the map.

China’s anti-access area denial defensive layers © Office of Naval Intelligence

The lines marking these zones used to show the limits of missile defense systems’ ranges. If the aircraft or an aircraft carrier crossed the ark, it was risking to be destroyed, he said.

It is noteworthy that such zones – at least, the majority of them – are located on the coastlines of Russia and China.

It would appear as if the US were prepared to take a risk to increase their presence in the no-go zones.

“It's actually really hard to achieve a hit. It requires the completion of a really complex chain of events. The threats they are based on are not insurmountable, and can be managed, will be managed,” Richardson said.

“Have no doubt, the US Navy is prepared to go wherever it needs to go, at any time, and stay there for as long as necessary in response to our leadership’s call to project our strategic influence,” he said.

Tensions have been running high over the US expansion. In June, Russia warned the US about American warships entering the Black Sea and “response measures” from Moscow that could follow. The USS Porter (DDG-78), armed with assault cruise missiles and an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System entered the Black Sea at the beginning of June.

Another hotspot for the conflict is South Korea, where the US is determined to deploy the THAAD anti-missile system.

Beijing has repeatedly voiced strong objections to the deployment of the system, vowing to take the “necessary” steps to maintain a strategic power balance in the region. A week ago, however, the US said it will deploy the system to South Korea “as soon as possible.”

In mid-September, Russia and China held joint drills, with their culmination off the coast of China’s southern Guangdong Province.