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LA RUSSIE RÉPOND PAR LA BOUCHE DE SON ARSENAL NUCLÉAIRE
Le président russe Vladimir Poutine renforce l'arsenal nucléaire de son pays avec le déploiement de plus de 40 nouveaux missiles intercontinentaux d'ici la fin de l'année.
L'annonce du président Poutine intervient sur fond de tensions entre la Russie et les États-Unis. Les révélations du New York Times sur les intentions américaines de déployer des armes lourdes en Europe de l'Est et dans les États baltes afin de rassurer ses alliés face à la Russie ont provoqué la colère de Moscou.
LE PENTAGONE VEUT STOCKER DES ARMES LOURDES
EN EUROPE DE L'EST
Le Pentagone prévoit entreposer des armes lourdes, notamment des chars de combat, en Europe de l'Est et dans les pays baltes afin de prévenir toute nouvelle agression russe en Europe,
a déclaré samedi un haut responsable américain, confirmant des informations du New York Times. |
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| QUAND LES GRANDS DE CE MONDE S'EXCITENT IL EST NORMAL QUE LES NÉVROSÉS RESSENTENT DES TENSIONS NOUS SALUONS CE PREMIER VOLONTAIRE POUR LE FRONT DE L'EST ON L'AAAPPLLLLODDIT BIEN FORT ! |
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| QUOI DE MIEUX POUR SE CHANGER LES IDÉES QU'UNE BONNE LECTURE SAINE ET NOURRISSANTE L'ESPRIT A PARFOIS ENVIE DE S'ÉLEVER |
NATO CONDEMNS PUTIN'S NUCLEAR 'SABRE-RATTLING'
16 June 2015
7 hours ago
BBC From the section
Europe
Nato has condemned Russia's move to strengthen its nuclear
arsenal,
saying it amounted to
"nuclear sabre-rattling"
and was
"unjustified" and "dangerous".
saying it amounted to
"nuclear sabre-rattling"
and was
"unjustified" and "dangerous".
President Vladimir Putin said Russia would put more than 40
new intercontinental ballistic missiles into service this year.
It is part of a wide-reaching programme to modernise the
country's military.
The move comes after the US proposed increasing its military
presence in Nato states in Eastern Europe.
Tensions are high over Russia's role in the conflict in
eastern Ukraine.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the
statement from Mr Putin was
"confirming the pattern and behaviour of Russia over a period of time - we have seen Russia is investing more in defence in general and in its nuclear capability in particular".
"confirming the pattern and behaviour of Russia over a period of time - we have seen Russia is investing more in defence in general and in its nuclear capability in particular".
He said:
"This nuclear sabre-rattling of Russia is unjustified,
it's destabilising and it's dangerous.
"This is something which we are addressing and it's
also one of the reasons why we now are increasing the readiness and the
preparedness of our forces."
He added that
"what Nato now does in the eastern part of the alliance
is something that is proportionate, that is defensive and that is fully in line
with our international commitments".
US Secretary of State John Kerry also expressed concern over
President Putin's announcement, saying the decision was in contravention of the
Start agreement designed to destroy nuclear weapons in the former territories
of the Soviet Union.
[BUT NOT IN USA. OLLÉ!]
"It could well be posturing with respect to
negotiations because of their concerns about military moves being made by Nato
itself,"
he said.
But
"nobody should hear that kind of announcement from the leader of a powerful country and not be concerned about what the implications are,"
"nobody should hear that kind of announcement from the leader of a powerful country and not be concerned about what the implications are,"
he added.
Following Mr Stoltenberg's comments, Mr Putin said that
Russia would be forced to aim its armed forces at any countries that might
threaten it.
ADVANCED WEAPONS
Earlier, Mr Putin said the weapons would be able to overcome
even the most technically advanced anti-missile defence systems.
Nato and Western leaders accuse Russia of sending soldiers and heavy weapons, including tanks and missiles, to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly denied this, insisting that any
Russians fighting there are "volunteers".
Russia has increased its defence spending substantially
under Vladimir Putin, and is in the midst of a massive modernisation programme,
says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Moscow.
The missiles are hi-tech replacements, not additions to Russia's nuclear arsenal, but the nod to the US is clear, our correspondent says.
RUSSIA NUCLEAR ARSENAL
Military stockpile of approximately 4,500 nuclear warheads
These include nearly 1,800 strategic warheads deployed on
missiles and at bomber bases
Another 700 strategic warheads are in storage
along with roughly 2,700 non-strategic warheads
along with roughly 2,700 non-strategic warheads
A large number - perhaps 3,500 - of retired, but still
largely intact warheads await dismantlement
*
US TO STORE HEAVY WEAPONS IN POLAND
UNDER NATO PLAN
15 June 2015
The US will take a decision soon to store heavy weapons
including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in Poland, the Polish defence
minister says.
Tomasz Siemoniak said he had discussed such US military
deployments last month with US Defence Secretary Ash Carter.
The US military has been conducting massive drills with Nato allies in Eastern Europe amid regional alarm over Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict.
Russian officials said the plan could have "dangerous
consequences".
The three Baltic states also plan to store US heavy weapons,
officials say.
The US has confirmed only that it is to send an armoured
brigade of up to 250 vehicles, including tanks, to Germany to support its Nato
allies.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will decide in due course
whether any of those vehicles will be deployed to other European countries.
"Decisions are near,"
Mr Siemoniak tweeted (in Polish), confirming a New York
Times report at the weekend that storage of US heavy weapons in Poland was
being discussed.
Such pre-positioning of US armour on the territory of its
ex-communist Nato allies would be a first since the Cold War ended.
It would not be an ad hoc measure, the minister said, but "for years and decades".
Reports say up to 5,000 Nato troops could be equipped with
the weapons set to be stored in eastern Europe.
It would be in position for a Nato rapid reaction brigade,
agreed at a Nato summit last year, which could deploy at short notice.
The White House and Mr Carter still have to approve the
heavy weapons storage, and no precise locations have been named yet.
"This is another step towards building a greater US
presence in Poland and the region,"
Mr Siemoniak told the Polish news agency PAP.
"If heavy US military equipment, including tanks,
artillery batteries and other equipment really does turn up in countries in
eastern Europe and the Baltics, that will be the most aggressive step by the
Pentagon and Nato since the Cold War,"
said Gen Yuri Yakubov, a Russian defence ministry official.
Gen Yabukov said
that, under such circumstances, Russia would
"organise retaliatory steps to strengthen our Western frontiers".
that, under such circumstances, Russia would
"organise retaliatory steps to strengthen our Western frontiers".
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said:
"We hope that reason will prevail and the situation in
Europe will be prevented from sliding into a new military confrontation which
may have dangerous consequences."
MISSILE TENSIONS
The US is also building a missile defence base at Redzikowo
in Poland, part of a shield aimed at protecting Nato countries from any
long-range missile threat from a "rogue" government.
[LE BOUCLIER DE LA GUERRE DES ÉTOILES DE REAGAN. SAUF QU'IL N'Y A PAS DE BOUCLIERS MAIS UN TAS DE MISSILES. COMMENT SE SENTENT LES RUSSES. COMME LES USSIENS LORS DE LA CRISE DES MISSILES À CUBA. ]
[LE BOUCLIER DE LA GUERRE DES ÉTOILES DE REAGAN. SAUF QU'IL N'Y A PAS DE BOUCLIERS MAIS UN TAS DE MISSILES. COMMENT SE SENTENT LES RUSSES. COMME LES USSIENS LORS DE LA CRISE DES MISSILES À CUBA. ]
Russia has condemned the missile shield plan, accusing Nato
of jeopardising European security.
Russia is reported to have deployed short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, near Poland and the Baltic states.
Russia is reported to have deployed short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, near Poland and the Baltic states.
Nato and Western leaders accuse Russia of sending soldiers
and heavy weapons including tanks and missiles to the pro-Russian separatists
in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly denied this, insisting that any
Russians fighting there are "volunteers".
Intermittent shelling and skirmishes have threatened the
Minsk ceasefire agreed in February between the rebels and the Ukrainian
government.
Poland and the three ex-Soviet Baltic republics - Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania - have issued some of the strongest condemnations of
Russia's policy in Ukraine.
Tensions escalated in March 2014 when Russia annexed
Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.
[ET NOS BOUGUINGOS QUI FONT L'INFORMATION EN LISANT LES COMMUNIQUÉS DE PRESSE DU MINISTÈRE DES AFFAIRES ÉTRANGÈRES ÉVITENT DE DIRE QUE LE COUP-D'ÉTAT EN UKRAINE ÉTAIT DIRIGÉ CONTRE UN ALLIÉ DE LA RUSSIE.
LE BUT ÉTAIT - ET A RÉUSSI - DE LE REMPLACER PAR UN PION DE L'OUEST (USA)
ÉTUDE DE LANGAGE: COMME LORSQU'ILS PARLENT DE LA «COMMUNAUTÉ INTERNATIONALE» C'EST AUSSI USA. ET LA COMMUNAUTÉ EUROPÉENNE, C'EST AUSSI USA.
LE SECOND BUT ÉTAIT DE CHASSER LA MARINE RUSSE DU PORT DE CRIMÉE.
LE TROISIÈME BUT DE FAIRE ENTRER L'UKRAINE DANS L'OTAN. AVEC TROUPES AU SOL.
LE QUATRIÈME BUT: ISNTALLER DES MISSILES VISANT LA RUSSIE.
CE QUI FAIT QUE LA RUSSIE A DU RÉAGIR ET HOP! LA CRIMÉE. DONT LA POPULATION PRO-RUSSE NE DEMANDAIT PAS MIEUX QUE DE FUIR LES CINGLÉS NAZIS ANTIRUSSES DU NOUVEAU GOUVERNEMENT.]
Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary have also been named as
possible storage locations for US military hardware.
*
U.S. IS POISED TO PUT HEAVY WEAPONRY
IN EASTERN EUROPE
Eric Schmittand + Steven Lee Myers
Eric Schmitt reported from Riga, Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania, and Steven Lee Myers from Washington.
Eric Schmitt reported from Riga, Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania, and Steven Lee Myers from Washington.
JUNE 13, 2015
RIGA, Latvia — In a significant move to deter possible
Russian aggression in Europe,
the Pentagon is poised to store battle tanks,
infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000
American troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries,
American and allied officials say.
American and allied officials say.
The proposal, if approved, would represent the first time
since the end of the Cold War that the United States has stationed heavy
military equipment in the newer NATO member nations in Eastern Europe that had
once been part of the Soviet sphere of influence.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea
and the war in eastern Ukraine have caused alarm and prompted new military
planning in NATO capitals.
It would be the most prominent of a series of moves the
United States and NATO have taken to bolster forces in the region and send a
clear message of resolve to allies
and
to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, that the United States would defend the alliance’s members closest to the Russian frontier.
to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, that the United States would defend the alliance’s members closest to the Russian frontier.
After the expansion of NATO to include the Baltic nations in
2004,
the United States and its allies avoided the permanent stationing of
equipment or troops in the east as they sought varying forms of partnership
with Russia.
“This is a very meaningful shift in policy,”
said James G.
Stavridis, a retired admiral and the former supreme allied commander of NATO, who
is now dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
“It provides a reasonable level of reassurance to jittery allies, although
nothing is as good as troops stationed full-time on the ground, of course.”
The amount of equipment included in the planning is small
compared with what Russia could bring to bear against the NATO nations on or
near its borders,
but it would serve as a credible sign of American commitment,
but it would serve as a credible sign of American commitment,
acting as a deterrent the way that the Berlin Brigade did after the Berlin Wall
crisis in 1961.
“It’s like taking NATO back to the future,”
said Julianne
Smith, a former defense and White House official who is now a senior fellow at
the Center for a New American Security and a vice president at the consulting
firm Beacon Global Strategies.
The “prepositioned” stocks — to be stored on allied bases
and enough to equip a brigade of 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers
— also would be similar to what the United States maintained in Kuwait for more than a decade after Iraq invaded it in 1990 and was expelled by American and allied forces early the next year.
— also would be similar to what the United States maintained in Kuwait for more than a decade after Iraq invaded it in 1990 and was expelled by American and allied forces early the next year.
[BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ]
The Pentagon’s proposal still requires approval by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the White House.
The Pentagon’s proposal still requires approval by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the White House.
And political hurdles remain,
as the significance of the potential step
has stirred concern among some NATO allies about Russia’s reaction to a buildup of equipment.
has stirred concern among some NATO allies about Russia’s reaction to a buildup of equipment.
“The U.S. military continues to review the best location to
store these materials in consultation with our allies,”
said Col. Steven H.
Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
“At this time, we have made no decision about if
or when to move to this equipment.”
Senior officials briefed on the proposals, who described the
internal military planning on the condition of anonymity, said that they
expected approval to come before the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels
this month.
The current proposal falls short of permanently assigning
United States troops to the Baltics — something that senior officials of those
countries recently requested in a letter to NATO.
Even so, officials in those
countries say they welcome the proposal to ship at least the equipment forward.
“We need the prepositioned equipment because if something
happens, we’ll need additional armaments, equipment and ammunition,”
Raimonds
Vejonis, Latvia’s minister of defense, said in an interview at his office here
last week.
“If something happens, we can’t wait days or weeks for more
equipment,”
said Mr. Vejonis, who will become Latvia’s president in July.
“We
need to react immediately.”
Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University who has
written extensively on Russia’s military and security services, noted,
“Tanks
on the ground, even if they haven’t people in them, make for a significant
marker.”
As the proposal stands now, a company’s worth of equipment —
enough for about 150 soldiers — would be stored in each of the three Baltic
nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Enough for a company or possibly a battalion — about 750 soldiers — would be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary,
they said.
Enough for a company or possibly a battalion — about 750 soldiers — would be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary,
they said.
American military specialists have conducted site surveys in
the countries under consideration, and the Pentagon is working on estimates
about the costs to upgrade railways, build new warehouses and
equipment-cleaning facilities, and to replace other Soviet-era facilities to
accommodate the heavy American weaponry.
The weapons warehouses would be
guarded by local or security contractors, and not by American military
personnel
officials said.
officials said.
Positioning the equipment forward saves the United States
Army time, money and resources, and avoids having to ship the equipment back
and forth to the United States each time an Army unit travels to Europe to
train.
A full brigade’s worth of equipment — formally called the European
Activity Set — would include about 1,200 vehicles, including some 250 M1-A2
tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, and armored howitzers,
according to a senior military official.
according to a senior military official.
The Army previously said after the invasion of Crimea last
year that it would expand the amount of equipment it stored at the Grafenwöhr
training range in southeastern Germany and at other sites to a brigade from a
battalion.
An interim step would be prepositioning the additional weapons and
vehicles in Germany ahead of decisions to move them farther east.
Army units — currently a battalion from the Third Infantry
Division — now fly into the range on regular rotations, using the same
equipment left in place. They train with the equipment there or take it to
exercises elsewhere in Europe.
That, along with stepped-up air patrolling and training
exercises on NATO’s eastern flank, was among the initial measures approved by
NATO’s leaders at their summit meeting in Wales last year.
The Pentagon’s
proposal reflects a realization that the tensions with Russia are unlikely to
diminish soon.
“We have to transition from what was a series of temporary
decisions made last year,”
said Heather A. Conley, director of the Europe
Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The idea of moving prepositioned weapons and materials to the
Baltics and Eastern Europe has been discussed before, but never carried out
because it would be viewed by the Kremlin as a violation of the spirit of the 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia
that laid the foundation for cooperation.
because it would be viewed by the Kremlin as a violation of the spirit of the 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia
that laid the foundation for cooperation.
In that agreement, NATO pledged that,
“in the current and
foreseeable security environment,”
it would not seek
“additional permanent stationing
of substantial ground combat forces” in the nations closer to Russia.
The agreement also says that
“NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries.”
“NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries.”
Many in the alliance argue that Russia’s
increasingly aggressive actions around NATO’s borders have made that pact
effectively moot.
The Pentagon’s proposal has gained new support because of
fears among the eastern NATO allies that they could face a Russian threat.
“This is essentially about politics,”
Professor Galeotti
said.
“This is about telling Russia that you’re getting closer to a real red
line.”
[AND THE US ARE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO A REAL RED LINE]
In an interview before a visit to Italy this week, Mr. Putin
dismissed fears of any Russian attack on NATO.
“I think that only an insane person and only in a dream can
imagine that Russia would suddenly attack NATO,”
he told the newspaper Corriere
Della Sera.
“I think some countries are simply taking advantage of people’s
fears with regard to Russia.”
