BULLETIN: 10:46 PM EDT - Blinken Officially Authorizes Ukraine to Attack Inside Russia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly approved the use of all US weapons against Russian targets, including targets inside Russia.
This takes away any plausible deniability from the U.S.
Below is a graphic showing the range of various U.S.-supplied weaponry. The regions showing in the color red are ALL inside Russia.
Once Ukraine begins using . . . for instance . . . . Extended Range HIMARS M39A1/M57 to hit targets inside Russia, the Russians can say the U.S. directly authorized the attacks and as such, both Ukraine AND the U.S. have attacked Russia.
The Russians repeatedly and publicly warned the US and NATO that such a decision would result in Russian attacks against the "Decision-making centers" of the nations that do this.
Blinken has just set the stage for our country to be attacked because of what HE is doing.
From RT
Blinken lobbying for strikes on Russia – NYT
The top US diplomat wants Ukraine to be given permission to use American weapons beyond its borders
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pushing the administration of President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to attack targets deep inside Russia with American weapons, the New York Times reported on Thursday, referring to unnamed US officials.
The ban, according to the White House, was imposed out of concern that if US arms were used inside what Washington acknowledges as Russian territory it would trigger an escalation and potentially World War III. Blinken has been advocating for scrapping the restriction after making a “sobering” visit to Kiev earlier this month, the newspaper said, citing insider sources.
Ukrainian officials have claimed that being unable to target Russian forces across the border with American weapons led to the failure of its troops to prevent the recent Russian advances in Kharkov Region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the offensive is a response to months of Ukrainian artillery and drone attacks in Russia’s Belgorod Region and that a buffer zone is required to deprive Kiev of the capability to make such strikes. The Times said that Ukrainian weapons “don’t pack the power and speed of the American weapons.”
NATO could shoot down Russian missiles – ministry
Kiev has launched a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill to pressure the White House over the issue and has some allies among lawmakers. A group of representatives signed a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday calling for the Ukrainian request to be granted.
During a hearing in Congress on Tuesday, Senator Michael McCaul displayed a map showing the strike range of ATACMS missiles – a weapon the US has donated to Ukraine – if Kiev were allowed to use them inside Russia. He called the outlined territory a “sanctuary zone” for Russian troops and accused the Biden administration of tying the hands of the Ukrainians behind their backs.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has urged increased NATO involvement in the conflict and has argued that the West should not fear Russia’s reaction. Moscow believes that Zelensky’s goal is to trigger an escalation to maintain his position.
READ MORE: Zelensky ‘yelling at generals’ – The Economist
Russia is currently conducting a military drill to test its capability to use non-strategic nuclear weapons, which Putin ordered in response to hostile rhetoric by Western officials. One such remark identified by Moscow came from British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who said earlier this month that Kiev “has the right” to use weapons donated by his nation to attack targets inside Russia.
From a Greek site - Pronews
Russia's ultimatum to Britain from M. Zakharova: "If British weapons hit Russian soil we will hit you all over the planet"
Moscow will respond with strikes to British targets around the world if British weapons are used by Ukraine to hit Russian territory, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, thus putting an end to the supply or more certainly to the use of Storm Shadow missiles.
She told reporters that in such a scenario British targets could be hit "on the territory of Ukraine and beyond its borders".
What is particularly important is that the Russian side did not specify what constitutes Russian territory as already in September 2022 Zaporizhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk are parts of the Russian Federation while Crimea has already been 10 years since 2014 when it was integrated into the Russian Federation state.
The first target, of course, is Crimea, where it has been hit repeatedly with British Storm Shadows, and this means today that Russia is establishing a legal basis for strikes against British targets/bases anywhere in the world.
The spokeswoman thus repeated a warning first issued earlier this month by Moscow after British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Ukraine had the right to use weapons supplied by London to strike targets inside Russia. and already many are talking that these British moves may even lead to the outbreak of a WWI.
"Putin could pound Britain with dozens of the same missiles he is already using to flatten Ukraine, and the UK will be unable to do anything to stop them," a retired British general said following the Russian statements.
Even a fairly old Russian cruise missile, I will mention the Kh-101 launched from an aircraft over western Russia, reaches London in 90 minutes with a 500 kg warhead and an accuracy of two meters. So watch your Downing Street door," the retired British Officer pointedly said.
Asked today about the possibility of Ukraine and Moldova joining the European Union, she said that this would amount to a further eastward expansion of NATO.
Zakharova also maintained that Moscow does not build military alliances or coalitions with other states, including China.
Negative development for security: Russia "erased" the border with Estonia! – Remove the buoys that delimit them (upd)
Naval buoys demarcating river border with Estonian waters of Narva River removed - Start of operations against Estonia imminent or simply Russian "war of nerves"
(Update – Original text 16.38): Last night, Russian border guards removed maritime buoys demarcating the river border with Estonian waters of the Narva River, a move interpreted as a "war of nerves" by Moscow in the Baltic state.
But also as a warning that Estonia "is a matter of 24 hours" for Russia in case NATO pressures Moscow to act in the Baltic states.A Russian Brigade of Army Group North has been moving into the area since last week.
These buoys are used for the navigation and safety of ships navigating the area.
The Estonian side has demanded an explanation from Moscow regarding the removal of the buoys, as this action is considered a violation of national sovereignty and international maritime law.
The Estonian authorities have proceeded to diplomatic contacts with Russia, requesting the restoration of the buoys and an explanation of the incident.
This incident has caused diplomatic tensions between the two countries, with Estonia denouncing the action as provocative and aggressive.
The Narva River forms a natural border between Estonia and Russia and is of strategic importance to the region. Bilateral relations between the two countries are already strained, and such incidents further escalate tensions.
Comments from Scott Ritter on Sputnik
Scott Ritter: US Threats to Greenlight Ukrainian Attacks on Russia Could Spill Out Into Nuclear War
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly asked President Biden to formally greenlight Ukrainian strikes against targets deep inside Russia using US-provided long-range weaponry amid growing pressure from hawks in Washington. Sputnik asked seasoned international affairs observer Scott Ritter about the development's dangerous endgame.
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Georgian PM accuses EU of ‘blackmailing’ him with assassination threat
The bloc is trying to intimidate Georgia over its foreign agents law, Irakli Kobakhidze has said
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has claimed that a European commissioner told him he could end up suffering the same fate as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt last week.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Kobakhidze said that the unnamed commissioner warned him during a recent phone call that the West would take “a number of measures” against him if his government pressed ahead with a law requiring foreign NGOs in Georgia to disclose their funding.
“While listing these measures, he mentioned: ‘you see what happened to Fico, and you should be very careful’,” he wrote.
Fico was shot multiple times as he met with supporters outside a government meeting in the town of Handlova on May 15. He was rushed to hospital, underwent emergency surgery, and is currently recuperating from his injuries. His would-be assassin – allegedly a 71-year-old poet who disagreed with Fico’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine – has been charged with attempted murder and may face terrorism charges.
Georgia’s parliament passed the ‘Transparency of Foreign Influence Act’ last week. The law requires NGOs, media outlets, and individuals receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities “promoting the interests of a foreign power” and disclose their donors.
While the act has been vetoed by Georgia’s pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, parliament is expected to override the veto.
Georgia does not want to become second Ukraine – PM
Despite similar yet more stringent foreign influence laws existing in the US, UK, and other Western nations, Georgia’s foreign agent law has been strongly condemned by US and EU officials, with Washington considering unspecified “actions” against Tbilisi and multiple EU members weighing sanctions, according to media reports.
“We have long been accustomed to this kind of insulting blackmail,” Kobakhidze wrote. “The parallel drawn with the attempted assassination of Robert Fico reminds us that in the form of the Global War Party, we are dealing with an extremely dangerous force that will do anything to bring chaos to Georgia.”
In an interview with Georgia’s Channel 1 on Wednesday, Kobakhidze argued that without a transparency law, foreign-funded NGOs operating in the country could easily foment a revolution akin to the US-backed ‘Maidan’ coup in Ukraine in 2014. “We want transparency... we don’t want to leave muddy water in this country, because a ‘Georgian Maidan’ could lead our country to very serious consequences, to its ‘Ukrainization’. We cannot agree with this,” he said.
Well...honestly...if Russia fires back with a hypersonic missile, I hope Blinken's house gets hit first. If Russia hits Europe, hope van der Leyen, Schwab, and the EU are the first to go. What can anyone say? Citizens everywhere are demanding peace efforts, negotiations, and the cessation of continued hostilities from their governments while the Rothschild-UN-Club of Rome-U.S. .gov can't seem to quench their bloodlust. Just like Israel. Does anyone else get this creepy feeling that Israel's continued bloodbath represents an old-fashioned blood ritual? They're placating the God of Blood for power and continued control over all. Isn't this what blood rituals supposedly conveyed? The transfer of power from the vanquished blood of those murdered to those doing the murder? Like the Mayans used to do. Put the body over the altar with the curved belly upward and slice and dice forthwith. They identically mimic animals you see in wildlife studies where they attack and bring down an animal and then ravage them in a gory scene eating from the inside out. And then people marvel at the rapid pace of technology. Ooohh, yeah.
SO Blinken has the power to declare war for the USA? and he's related at least tribally to Benjamin Netanyahu