Although Russia threatens heavily to use nuclear weapons, US President Joe Biden doesn’t think it will actually come to that. Thus he responds to the START treaty, suspended by Russia, which should reduce the number of nuclear weapons.
And that sounds reassuring, says BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg. “Russia itself has already said that the suspension of the treaty does not mean that the possibility of nuclear war is approaching,” he says. “Because it’s the first thing you think of, of course, a conditioned reflex in our head.”
Hammelburg points out that the START treaty only served to reduce the number of existing nuclear weapons and that Russia has temporarily stopped doing so.
Reconstruction
With the treaty suspended, Russia sees an opportunity to scare the Western world even more, Hammelburg thinks. For example, this afternoon it was announced that Putin is considering building more nuclear weapons, “but I don’t think that will happen,” Hammelburg continues. “It’s not something you just do. In my opinion, it is purely psychological warfare. And that we pay attention to it is really his intention.’
According to Hammelburg, Putin wants it to be widely covered by the global media. By making such nuclear statements, all the journalists and politicians run away and all sorts of things are sought behind his motives. Hammelburg speaks of an “ugly shot”.
No real threats
He also says that the West should take the statements seriously, although there is no need to worry about any threats. “That’s out of the question. This treaty is about ICBMs, the huge monsters stored in silos, each of which sometimes carries up to ten atomic bombs, which are forty times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima,” he continues. “So if you launch two of those missiles, the world will no longer exist.”
Hammelburg claims that both the West and Russia each possess more than a thousand of those missiles, the result of the Cold War. All designed to scare each other. “And they want to get rid of that system through the START treaty,” Hammelburg says.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
