Amid reports that a war between Russia and NATO is imminent, Moscow is already building plans as to who will be its allies in a nuclear confrontation against the Alliance. And yes, Russia has so far picked nuclear-powered allies. A coincidence? Unlikely.
In an attempt to team up with even more nuclear-powered countries, Russia is seeking to build military ties with Pakistan, according to Bloomberg. The move also appears to be a response to India, Pakistan’s traditional rival, buying more weapons from the United States. Thus, Moscow has just killed two birds with one stone.
Last week, Moscow and Islamabad signed a historical military cooperation deal. The world community “wants to do business with Pakistan now,” as said by Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, after signing the agreement.
The U.S. has surpassed Russia in being India’s top defense supplies in recent years, which is why Russian President Vladimir Putin feels the need to change his approach in South Asia. Still, Putin is scheduled to visit India in December to meet with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But it is yet unclear whether the Russian President plans to persuade India into halting its expanding military ties with the U.S.
Earlier in November, the Kremlin announced it will build a second gas pipeline to China, who’s Pakistan’s biggest ally. The move would thus once and for all tilt energy exports toward Asia.
“China and Russia are also allying themselves, so it’s also one factor why Russia is looking toward Pakistan more cooperatively,” retired Lieutenant General Talat Masood, a former chairman of Pakistan Ordnance Factories, told Bloomberg by phone from Islamabad. “It’s important to be an ally of an ally.
China, Russia and Pakistan: the world’s new superpower axis
Russia and Pakistan are already building plans in counter-terrorism cooperation, increasing port calls of military ships as well as helping stabilize Afghanistan, according to Bloomberg citing ITAR-TASS. During last week’s meeting between Shoigu and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the two sides agreed on further steps to boost the $542 million of bilateral trade between the two nations.
Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said the country is seeking to modernize its armed forces and become capable of producing its own military equipment, stripping itself off reliance on imports from the U.S. and Russia.
In August, ValueWalk reported that there were signs of the emergence on a new superpower axis in the world – a triangle between Russia, China and Pakistan. And it seems that there has been significant progress in forming this kind of superpower axis ever since.
China, Russia and Pakistan are perfect fit for one another for the reason that Moscow is capable of replacing all Western military technology for both Beijing and Islamabad. Besides, Russia has a reputation of being a reliable energy supplies for its allies.
China, meanwhile, is much more powerful in terms of its economy compared to both Russia and Pakistan. In addition to that, a great amount of foreign exchange reserves are looking to invest and require energy supplies.
Pakistan, for its part, has a developing economy and requires both military equipment and energy supplies from Russia and protection from China.
Both Beijing and Moscow see Washington as a challenge to their interests, while they believe it is in their best interests to stop U.S. global dominance. Pakistan, meanwhile, has no significant disagreements with the U.S., but it would not mind to ensure its own safety under the wing of the Chinese and Russians.
Putin urged to drop nuclear bomb on Turkey, killing 9 mil people
Putin is willing to use nuclear weapons on Russia’s “enemy number one,” Turkey, according to one of the nation’s leading politicians, as reported by the Daily Star.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the misnamed Liberal Democratic party, urged Putin to destroy Turkish capital of Istanbul, killing over nine million people. Zhirinovsky said Turkey was stupid to shot down a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday, when it violated Turkish airspace.
“A nuclear attack can destroy Istanbul very easily. Just one nuclear bomb in the Istanbul Strait will wash the city away,” the Russian MP told Moscow Speaking Radio, according to the Daily Star.
“It would be such a terrible flood, the water would rise to between 10m and 15m and the city would [flood],” he continued and added, “And then there are nine million lives.”
Zhirinovsky also labeled Turkey as Russia’s “enemy number one.” The comments come after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia not to “play with fire,” hinting at NATO’s 5th article, which states that an attack on one Ally shall be considered an attack on all NATO members.
Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons on Turkey
The Turkish military shot down the Russian warplane on Tuesday, triggering a furious response from the Kremlin and escalating the already hot tensions between NATO and Russia. With Putin warning NATO of “serious consequences,” analysts believe Moscow is willing to unleash a nuclear war over the incident.
Despite the fact that Turkey is backed by NATO’s 5th Article, the chances that Putin will start a nuclear war over the incident with the Russian warplane are very “likely,” according to Pavel Felgengauer, Russia’s most respected military analyst, as reported by ValueWalk on Wednesday.
Felgengauer said Turkey wants to protect a zone in northern Syria controlled by the Turkmens, who are Turkish allies, while the downing of the Russian fighter jet must prompt Putin to either accept the zone or “start a war with Turkey,” which means starting an all-out war with NATO. And the only way Russia could win a war against NATO is by going nuclear, Felgengauer added.
“It is most likely that it will be war,” said Felgenhauer, as reported by Mirror. “In other words, more fights will follow when Russian planes attack Turkish aircraft in order to protect our [Russia’s] bombers. It is possible that there will be fights between the Russian and Turkish navies at sea.”
By Polina Tikhonova, ValueWalk