Doings—Putin, Zakharova, Shoigu, and Then Lavrov on October's Missiles

On the 28th, there was an “Extraordinary meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council” in which Putin made the following curious statement:

“Only through the consistent implementation of these agreements, through delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, freeing up transport services, and resolving humanitarian issues will it be possible to achieve a sustainable normalisation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Prime Minister of Armenia and I have discussed this many times, and I understand that our colleague fully agrees with this. The question is how to find these solutions. It is not easy, but you can only find them on this path. In the future, this will pave the way to a peace treaty.” [My Emphasis]

As with the dog that didn't bark, something/someone is missing from the bolded text—the other half of the equation the President of Azerbaijan, who I know from monitoring the Kremlin and MFA's websites hasn't been nearly as involved as his Armenian counterpart. Yet, in the preceding paragraph, Putin emphasized:

“Without a doubt, the only possible and realistic path to peace is the one through strict compliance, by the parties, with all the provisions of the well-known joint statements of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

My observation and point being I don't see anywhere near the same amount of weight being placed on Azerbaijan when compared to Armenia. This two-three generations-old conflict must be solved lest the Outlaw US Empire take advantage of it as it's likely doing currently.

At his meeting with Putin, Shoigu announced the end of the partial mobilization and reported:

In the course of the partial mobilisation, more than 1,300 representatives of executive authorities have been called up, as well as over 27,000 entrepreneurs. As many as 13,000 Russians volunteered to fulfil their duty before any mobilisation notices were served to them. The average age of mobilised Russians is 35….

Particular emphasis is being placed on the proper training of newly mobilised reservists. At present, 218,000 people are in combat training as part of crews or units in training centres and grounds.

After completing the training, 82,000 reservists were sent to the area of the special military operation, including more than 41,000 who joined units there. Those who see action will receive the status of combat veteran and the corresponding package of social benefits. All recruits called up under the mobilisation have been deployed today. No more notices are being served. The target you set – 300,000 people – has been achieved. No additional objectives are planned. Military enlistment offices will continue to staff the troops for the special military operation only by accepting volunteers and candidates planning to join the service under contract.

Putin asked the above numbers be repeated, thanks Shoigu and asked him to extend Putin's gratitude to all involved, particularly those called to duty. Putin reviewed the several problems encountered in the mobilization and ordered the following:

“Nevertheless, based on the experience of the special military operation, we need to review and make adjustments in developing all the components of the Armed Forces, including the Ground Forces. I ask you to work out the details of that task within your Ministry and discuss all the issues at the expert level so we can prepare and adopt all the necessary decisions within a short time, so that they are also compatible with the plans for the development of defence industry enterprises….

“Let's agree that in December, at the annual board meeting, after all this work, I'll repeat, including at the expert level, that you will report on these proposals and be ready to adopt them.”

That annual board meeting will need to be scrutinized and is only 6-7 weeks away.

Maria Zakharova's statement on British abetting Ukrainian terrorism and being the primary suspect for the Nord Stream terrorist attack:

The Russian Foreign Ministry, together with other competent Russian authorities, is working on practical steps in connection with the involvement of British specialists in the preparation of a terrorist attack in the Black Sea on October 29 and training of the Ukrainian military, as the Russian Defence Ministry has announced.

At the same time, the Russian military reported that they have information on the involvement of the British security services in a series of explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Russia has repeatedly called for a joint investigation into these attacks. Relevant proposals were sent to the governments of Denmark, Sweden and Germany. The fact that the Western countries declined this proposal confirms that they have something to hide. Now we understand what they are hiding.

As someone mentioned, Russia doesn't make such accusations like the West as it only does so with evidence in hand.

And as we close out the month of October, I've yet to mention the seminal event that occurred 60 years ago that has several different names, here it's called the Cuban Missile Crisis, but that's actually an obfuscation of what really drove the crisis. Instead of me reviewing those events, I think it much better to provide this,

Interview with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the film "The World on the Brink. Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis"

Question: If we talk about the Cuban Missile Crisis, why did the United States try to deploy missiles in the immediate vicinity of our borders? What threatened the Soviet Union with the deployment of medium-range missiles in Turkey in the 1960s?

Sergey Lavrov: The United States did not just try, it actually deployed Jupiter medium-range missiles in Turkey and Italy. I mention Italy because the range of these missiles launched from that country covered a significant part of European territory. From Turkey to Moscow is ten minutes of summer, as it was then believed. This was the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and not as Western historiography tries to present it, seeing the root of the problem in the deployment of our missiles in Cuba. There we were only responding to what the U.S. had already done near the Soviet Union.

“If we abstract from the problem of the threat of US aggression against Cuba – it was quite real, appropriate attempts were made – then the main thing from the military-strategic point of view was the fact of the "deployment" (nuclear weapons) of the United States in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the USSR. At that time, the United States, in addition to jupiters, possessed nuclear warheads in the amount of four and a half thousand, which was several times higher than the total number of nuclear weapons of the Soviet Union. An important factor was also that the "Jupiter" in its characteristics was regarded in the USSR and in the West as a means of first strike. With this in mind, the decisions that were taken then were based on real security threats to our country.

“The extent to which the situation was taken seriously in the United States is evidenced by eyewitnesses' memories of President John F. Kennedy's conversation with his aides in the Oval Office. The head of the White House said that he did not understand why N.S. Khrushchev should deploy missiles in Cuba. After all, the Soviet leader, they say, should have realized that for the United States it was the same if the Americans had deployed their missiles in Turkey. The assistant replied with surprise that this was exactly what the United States had done. I hope that in today's situation, President Joe Biden will have more opportunities to understand who gives orders and how.

Question: How similar is the situation in the 1960s and the situation now in the event of an escalation of the conflict with Ukraine? Both clearly show that the US is trying to be a hegemon. To what extent can the experience of "living" the Cuban Missile Crisis help here and now?

Sergey Lavrov: There are similarities. Both in 1962 and now we are talking about creating direct threats to Russia's security right on our borders. Today, it is even closer than the "Jupiters" located in Turkey. There is a military campaign to pump Ukraine with all types of weapons. There is serious talk that NATO's nuclear capabilities need to be strengthened in addition to the five countries that already have American tactical nuclear weapons on their territory. Poland is asking for "candidates" for the Americans to also place their nuclear bombs. This situation is very worrying.

“The difference is that back in 1962, N.S. Khrushchev and J. Kennedy found the strength to show responsibility and wisdom, and now we do not see such readiness on the part of Washington and its satellites. There are many examples. We can start with the fact that the chance for negotiations that arose, which materialized at the end of March this year at the meeting in Istanbul, was destroyed, now we can say this, on the direct instructions of Washington.

“The United States, NATO, and the European Union continue to talk about the need to defeat Russia "on the battlefield." As you rightly pointed out, behind all this is the absolute inability of the United States to abandon the desire to rule everything and everything. If at one time they sang "Rule, Britain, by the Seas", now America wants to sing, for sure, "Rule, America, the Planet". President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke about this clearly, clearly, unequivocally in his speech in the Kremlin, when treaties were signed between Russia and the four new regions of the Federation. That's the main difference.

“Will Europe have enough responsibility? After all, the Europeans are already suffering from economic sanctions many times more than the United States. There is a growing number of economists not only in our country, but also in the West, who come to the conclusion that the goal of the United States is to completely "bleed out" and deindustrialize the European economy. The Germans are moving a large number of their production facilities to the United States, with all the ensuing consequences for the long-term competitiveness of the European Union. Weakening Europe militarily is also in Washington's interest. Constantly keep it in suspense, force it to pump Ukraine with weapons, in return to fill the arms depots of the EU countries with American supplies. We all understand that. It combines economic, purely egoistic calculations and ideological complexes of superiority.

Question: There is a point of view that in the 1960s decisions were made by people who had gone through The Second World War and understood what it meant. Now in America, decisions are made by politicians who, in principle, did not smell gunpowder and this is more dangerous, because understanding the consequences of war is still sobering. How do you feel about that?

Sergey Lavrov: This is a universal issue not only for Americans, but also for Europeans. And we no longer have politicians who directly participated in the war.

“The difference lies in the fact that a significant number of our citizens come from families who in one way or another participated in the Great Patriotic War, suffered, lost loved ones. Because of the huge number of victims and because of the sacrifice demonstrated by the Soviet multinational people, this memory is sacred. This is what distinguishes us from those who begin to take the topic of nuclear weapons lightly.

“Joe Biden himself was born during World War II. He remembers that in the post-war years this topic was seriously discussed. Back then, it was still influencing the American political class. At the same time, all other members of the Administration are people who do not have this memory. At least, such a conclusion can be drawn from their actions to escalate confrontation with Russia, the statement that "if Ukraine does not win, then it is unacceptable," and much more.

“In Europe, too, there are "figures" who are trying to "play" with the topic of nuclear weapons rather irresponsibly. In February of this year, the then French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian "reminded" that Russia should not forget that NATO also has nuclear weapons. The commander-in-chief of the German Air Force, J. Gerhartz, "suddenly" said that NATO should prepare for nuclear war and the use of nuclear weapons. Addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said that our President should not dare to compete with them. From the mouth of the German, this is a very revealing statement.

“A long time ago, long before the start of the special military operation, we began to feel in contacts with our German colleagues that they were using various methods and in different expressions to make a clear idea: "Dear colleagues, we Germans have paid for everything with everyone and do not owe anything to anyone else. Therefore, stop reproaching us for what happened during the Second World War." This is a rather dangerous trend. Now many in Germany, including the foreign minister, are trying to claim that the Germans will never forget the crimes that this people committed during Hitler's rule during the Third Reich, but at the same time they continue to claim that they have paid off everyone.

“I do not take into account the topic of reparations, which now, following Poland, the Greeks began to "raise to the shield". I am talking about responsibility for the peaceful development of the continent and for the "non-revival" of Nazism, which, unfortunately, is now reviving quite quickly, primarily in the very Ukraine supported by the Germans. President Zelenskyy's statement that it was a mistake to give up nuclear weapons (he made them in February of this year) did not cause any condemnatory reaction from his Western patrons.

Q: What should we do? During the Cuban Missile Crisis, as you said, N.S. Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy agreed. In your opinion, how can the escalation of the conflict be reduced so that Russia can preserve legal personality, national security and "isolation"? What if our Western partners do not negotiate in any way?

Sergey Lavrov: President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that we have never refused and are not refusing to negotiate. I warned that those who refuse – Ukraine is doing this on the direct instructions of Western sponsors – should understand that the longer they delay negotiations, the more difficult it will be for them to negotiate with us. In his speech in the Kremlin on September 30 of this year, Vladimir Putin once again called on the Kiev regime to stop hostilities and sit down at the negotiating table. The West once again "missed the ears" of the West, and Vladimir Zelensky said that he was not going to talk to the current President of Russia. He even signed a decree that forbids him to do this. He is an artist of the comedy genre, but now he is no longer up to comedies. The events in Ukraine take a tragic turn because of what is happening with this regime, which enjoys absolute impunity from the West.

“Russia's readiness, including its President Vladimir Putin, for negotiations remains unchanged. Over the past six months, there have been several initiatives from the Americans and some other Western colleagues who have asked for telephone conversations with the Russian leader. Some Foreign Ministers have made the same request to me. We have always agreed, and we will always be ready to listen to possible proposals to reduce the tensions of our Western colleagues.

“Since February 2014, we have not seen any activity in this area. When the bloody coup d'état was organized, the first instinct of the new government was the demand to eliminate the status of the Russian language in Ukraine, enshrined in the laws, to expel Russians from the Crimea, etc. For seven long years after the conclusion of the Minsk agreements, all our reminders, calls to ensure that the Kiev regime fulfilled them, ran into a wall of silence. Apparently, the calculation then was that V.A. Zelensky would be able to restore his territorial integrity by force. He did not hide the fact that Kiev intends to do this. Actually, the Ukrainian president began to implement this "plan B", when in February of this year many more intensive shelling of Donbass began. This was the last straw that overflowed the cup of patience. We couldn't have made any other decision to protect those people.

“We are always ready to listen to our Western colleagues if they make another request to organize a conversation. I hope that in addition to reproducing in contacts between diplomatic agencies and other channels what they say publicly in propaganda fervor, we will be able to offer some serious approaches that will contribute to defusing tension and fully take into account the interests of the Russian Federation and its security. For decades, we have tried to formalize this by international legal methods. The last time such an attempt was made in December 2021, when we proposed to the Americans and NATO a treaty on European security aimed at ensuring the legitimate interests in this area of all European countries, including Ukraine without membership in the North Atlantic Alliance and the interests of the Russian Federation.

“If we are approached with realistic proposals based on the principles of equality and mutual respect for interests, aimed at finding compromises and a balance of interests of all countries in this region, we will not be the case, as it has always been in the past.” [My Emphasis]

I'm unclear about Lavrov's meaning for the above emphasized text. My assumption is 'Russia won't be the cause of refusing talks', but the grammar isn't correct for subject/verb in the concluding clause. Hopefully, there'll be an official English translation for me to look at tomorrow instead of trying to decipher this machine translation, which in this case the error is potentially significant.

Also not mentioned in the interview are the many plans made by the Anglo-Americans to destroy the USSR/Russia with nuclear weapons that began as soon as WW2 was deemed over in 1946 and almost every year thereafter. There's a huge amount of historical hidden reality buried under carpets and within closets that the individual must seek out to discover for him/herself because “standard” history texts are completely silent on all that and so much more.