Russian General Warns Of World War 3, Russia’s Nuclear Weapons Plans For The World

A new Cold War is the talk of international politics in 2015, but a former Russian general is warning that the world stands on the brink of a “hot war,” not Cold War 2. In addition, it’s “jokingly” claimed that keeping the “U.S. territory at gunpoint” by threatening World War 3 may be the most effective method of combating the United States.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Vladimir Putin recently signed and enacted a new Russian military doctrine which proposes that Russian nuclear weapons defense systems near Europe will be expanded, based upon joint defense projects with China, India, and other countries. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also warns that the Ukraine crisis may transform into World War 3, claiming that a nuclear war between Russia and the U.S. is possible.

Former member of Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov spoke to Pravda in a recent interview, and when he was asked about non-nuclear deterrence he responded with a very dark joke.

“One should keep the U.S. territory at gunpoint to be able to immediately act on the territory. The group should target the Federal Reserve, but I’m joking here, of course. Yet, there is some truth in this joke, because, as a rule, it is financial oligarchs, who need to start wars.”

Ivashov suggests that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs should start a “combat mission” against the United States to “cause the damage with the use of economics methods.” In particular, he suggests targeting oil supplies and other commodities necessary for waging war. But Ivashov believes that placing Russian nuclear weapons in strategic locations like Latin America would be the best deterrent.

“Bingo – they have the U.S. territory at gunpoint, and this is what the Americans fear most. They invest a lot of money in missile defense not to wage wars on their own territory. They will be happy to stage wars anywhere, but not on their own territory. We need to find some power to create a group that could, in case of aggression against Russia, act on the territory of the United States. Now that would be a factor of deterrence. They say that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Russian Ministry of Defense work on that already.”

Although Ivashov believes a large focus on Russia’s nuclear weapons should be a factor, he also notes that the United States has “not upgraded one single ballistic missile, and they do not build new ones either.”

This decision has led to the number of Russian nuclear weapons surpassing the number of U.S. nuclear missiles. Under the new U.S. directive that was put into place in 2003, it’s said the U.S. military has focused on positioning high-precision vehicles in strategic locations that use the AEGIS Ballistic Missile System.

“Thus, the Americans plan to destroy our remaining ballistic missiles in the boost phase of their flight. For these purposes, the Americans create this missile defense. Afterwards, AEGIS systems will disable the warheads of the missiles that have been launched. The Americans do their best to devalue the Russian nuclear missile potential. And they can succeed.”

If “non-nuclear powers show aggression against Russia, threatening the existence and the territorial integrity of Russia,” then Russia will preemptively use tactical nuclear weapons, according to the former Russian general. Due to the technological balance of power being in favor of the United States and its allies, Ivashov apparently believes this effort will fail since most of Russia’s neighbors are all under the “American nuclear umbrella,” and that World War 3 may be around the corner.

“It just so happens that it is only Mongolia and Finland that can be the countries against which we can use nuclear weapons, if they threaten us. The situation has changed dramatically, and we are standing on the brink of a war – not a cold, but a hot war. Therefore, today Russia hastily takes efforts to rebuild the defensive capacity of the armed forces and change the military doctrine.”

As part of this plan for modernizing Russia’s nuclear weapons and military capabilities, Leonid Ivashov claims the space group and long-range aircraft need to be upgraded. He believes that Russia has relied upon the “nuclear shield” as the primary factor of nuclear deterrence, but this shield does not guarantee safety “because we do not see a situation when we can push the button, even for a retaliatory attack.”