US Needs to Fully Grasp Putin's Comment on Russia's Nuclear Capabilities: Ex-Army Officer
15:55 13.03.2024 (Updated: 16:51 14.03.2024)
© Sputnik / Mikhail Metzel
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Russian President Vladimir Putin told Rossiya Segodnya's Director General Dmitry Kiselev in an exclusive interview that US troops in Ukraine would be treated as "interventionists".
There is a pressing need for the US and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies to "fully understand" the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the scope of Moscow's nuclear capabilities in case the western forces mount a direct military intervention in Ukraine, an Indian military veteran has told Sputnik India.
"President Putin's statement needs a lot of understanding by the NATO forces and the US. At this particular juncture, neither NATO or the US is capable of militarily taking on Russia in case of a western intervention in Ukraine. This is because of the largest inventory of a diverse and rapidly modernising nuclear stockpile possessed by Russia," remarked Lieutenant Colonel JS Sodhi, an Indian Army veteran and a geopolitical expert.
During his interview with Rossiya Segodnya, the parent company of Sputnik, Putin said that Russia was ready for a "nuclear war" while the West wasn't for the same if it were to erupt imminently.
Putin remarked that the West has failed to "inflict a strategic defeat" on Russia.
Citing figures collated by several think tanks, Sodhi noted that Russia's nuclear stockpile stood at 5,889, while the US was at 5,244. He said that Russia also possessed an advantage over US and NATO allies in terms of the strength of deployed "strategic warheads''.
Moscow is also ahead of the global curve on developing new strike systems, including the Zircon hypersonic missiles and the Tu-160M nuclear-capable bomber plane, which Putin flew in this month. Russia is also developing a multiple-warhead 'Yars-M' intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in yet another sign of nuclear modernisation.
Russia has also said that the modernisation of strategic nuclear forces has reached 95 percent and the naval component of the nuclear triad has also achieved cent percent modernisation.
In fact, the 'Annual Threat Assessment Report' of the US Intelligence Community released this week conceded that Moscow maintains "the largest and most diverse nuclear weapons stockpile".
"... Russia remains a resilient and capable adversary across a wide range of domains and seeks to project and defend its interests globally and to undermine the United States and the West," the US report stated.
Launch of Zirkon Missile From the Frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the Barents Sea
© Sputnik / Russian Defence Ministry
/ 'An Intervention in Ukraine Would Spell the Doom of NATO'
Sodhi predicted that in view of Russia's military superiority, a military intervention in Ukraine would "spell the doom" of NATO allies.
"I don't believe that the US will make the mistake of directly intervening in Ukraine, in spite of some hawkist statements by NATO allies like the French President. As a matter of fact, the US would be wary of sending its troops to any conflict. There is definitely a wariness in the US over continuing military aid to Ukraine and a lessening appetite among American public of foreign interventions," the expert stated, noting that the US has "directly or indirectly" backed 200 foreign interventions since Independence in 1776.
He highlighted that in spite of Biden and NATO leadership's self-congratulatory statements about the effectiveness of military aid to Ukraine, Moscow has taken over over 17 percent of its territory and possessed a "battlefield advantage" in view of the recent victory in Avdeyevka.
Sodhi pointed out that besides Russia's own military prowess, strengthening ties between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran posed a "formidable alliance" against the US, something which the Biden administration shouldn't be taking lightly.
The veteran pointed out that People's Liberation Army's (PLA) military doctrine states that the Chinese forces are capable of waging a war against any adversary in all the six domains – land, sea, air, cyber, electromagnetic spectrum and space.
"Such a statement hasn't been issued by a NATO ally till date. An intervention by NATO in Ukraine would see western forces trying to match the combined wrath of Russia and China, which would spell disaster for the NATO forces," the military expert explained.
Sodhi cautioned that the room for a "negotiated settlement" for Ukraine was reducing as it might be "encircled" on three sides.
He noted that Transnistrian authorities this month sought Moscow's help in protecting them from threats from Moldova.
"If this trouble escalates further, Ukraine will find itself surrounded by Russian armed forces on three sides – Transnistria, Belarus and Russia. Such a situation would put Ukraine in a position of no-return and significantly reduce chances of a negotiated settlement for Ukraine," concluded Sodhi.
