Panicked Putin must now choose between 'peace' and 'nuclear armageddon'.

In 1964, in the lead up to the British election, Harold Wilson (left) is supposed to have coined the famous phrase, ‘A week is a long time in politics.’

The current diplomatic actions and political statements from international politicians, as Putin fails to turn Ukraine into a vassal state of Russia, now changes Harold Wilson's famous phrase into, "An hour is a long time in politics".

From Putin's ongoing and dangerous war in Ukraine, to the dangerous escalation of the war in the Middle East, Putin's redrawing of his lines for the use of Russia's nuclear capability in  Ukraine is leading the world to face global armageddon.

 As reported by Vladimir Soldatkin (left) and Guy Faulconbridge  (right),

"President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.

The decision to change Russia's official nuclear doctrine is the Kremlin's answer to deliberations in the United States and Britain about whether or not to give Ukraine permission to fire conventional Western missiles into Russia." (Reuters: 25 September 2024) (my emphasis)

 DW News: 26 September 2024: YouTube

Disconcertingly, Putin's TV propaganda pundits now includes their TV weatherman, Evgeny Tishkovets (left).

As he states on his TV program,

"Russia reserves the right to respond by nuclear means to any critical threat, even with conventional weapons. 

If this happens, it will be hell to pay for everyone."

Russian Media Monitor: 28 September 2024: YouTube

Like a 'cat on a hot tin roof ', Brazilian, Chinese, and Swiss international politicians are now 'frantically' scrambling around calling for 'peace' by trying to appease Putin by embracing his terms for a ceasefire in his war with Ukraine.

And against the background of all this frantic 'Putin peace terms' diplomacy, AlJazeera reports that,

"Biden announced [a] “surge in security assistance” for Ukraine on Thursday, saying that the aid would be provided in two tranches of $5.5bn and $2.4bn, the package including the provision of Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) munitions to “enhance Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities”. (Aljazeera: 26 September 2024) (my emphasis)

 whilst Zelensky urges the world at the UN to accept his peace formula.

"We have to withdraw the Russian occupiers, which will bring an end to hostilities in Ukraine ....... and uphold the UN  Charter" (ibid AlJazeera)

 Aljazeera: 26 September 2024

Putin and his 'siloviki' have painted themselves into a 'nuclear' corner whilst continuosly, and indiscriminately, bombing Ukrainian civilians and Ukraine's infrastructure.

As reported by Pavel Polityuk (left),

" Russia attacked a hospital in Sumy in northeastern Ukraine early on Saturday, killing 10 people and injuring at least 22 others, Ukrainian officials said.

Danielle Bell, head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said "loitering munitions" - or suicide drones - hit the Saint Panteleimon Clinical Hospital in two attacks 45 minutes apart.

"Most of the fatalities occurred during the second strike, which hit as first responders arrived at the site and patients attempted to evacuate," she said." (Reuters: 28 September 2024) (my emphasis)

This sheer inhumanity of Putin will not prevent the Russian war economy from imploding.

As reported by Oli Smith,

"Russia's war machine could soon grind to a halt due to the country's crumbling economy. Vladimir Putin has poured hundreds of billions from the federal budget into the country's defence and security as Russia continues to wage a brutal war in Ukraine.

However, his plans to drag the war on could be scuppered after Russia's crude oil income dramatically dropped this month. Income from crude oil shipments, which provided 16 percent of Russia's GDP last year, has dropped to its lowest level in eight months." (Express: 25 September 2024) (my emphasis)

 Joe Blogs: 30 September: YouTube

Panicked Putin and his 'siloviki' must now choose between 'peace' and 'nuclear armageddon'.

UPDATE : 1 October 2024:

CNN reports that,

"The Russian government wants to earmark 32.5% of its spending for defense in 2025, a record amount and up from a reported 28.3% this year, as Moscow seeks to prevail in the war in Ukraine.
...
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also looking at how to sustain his war effort as military spending has placed a huge strain on the Russian economy." (AP on CNN: 30 September 2024) (my emphasis)

CNN goes on to report that,

"Meanwhile, on Monday Putin signed a call-up order for 133,000 conscripts in the autumn military draft, which is a routine number for seasonal conscription campaigns.

In September, he ordered the military to increase the number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million. Overall military personnel would be about 2.4 million." (ibid  CNN)

[Note that : Putin's nuclear warning came as Ukraine presses the United States to provide long-range weapons that would allow it to strike deep within Russia.] (cf Vladimir Soldatkin  and Guy Faulconbridge above)

It should be borne in mind that Putin's conscipts being called up are "not allowed to join Russian forces in Ukraine", but  will be eligible for confronting Ukraines' forces in Russia's Kursk.

And as Arne Delfs and Annmarie Hordern now  report,

"German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (left) expressed support for Ukraine’s request for long-range Taurus cruise missiles, putting herself at odds with Chancellor Olaf Scholz who has ruled out sending the weapons over fears it could trigger direct conflict with Russia.
...
Baerbock blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine in part for Germany’s current budget constraints, which have forced the government to broadly rein in outlays while maintaining its pledge to meet NATO’s goal of spending 2% of gross domestic product on the military." (Bloomberg on Yahoo News: 30 Sept 2024) (my emphasis)

All this merely serves to underscore that a panicked Putin and his 'siloviki' must now choose between 'peace' and 'nuclear armageddon'. 

UPDATE: 3 October 2024

Rebecca Robinson now reports that,

"He [Putin] plans to increase defence spending by 25 percent next year, pushing the total defence budget to a staggering 13.5 trillion rubles (£109bn).

Draft budget documents released on Monday on the parliament’s website detailed these plans, revealing that spending on defence and security will make up 40 percent of Russia's total budget.

Russian pensioner Irina, 70, expressed her "outrage" to AFP at the news, calling the increased spending a "crime" and telling the outlet that "we need to end this war".

Another pensioner quoted by the outlet called the budget hike a "shame and a disgrace", as Russia cannot afford to give money to help its poor children so should not be spending such large amounts on prolonging the war." (Express: 2 October 2024) (my emphasis)

How much longer Putin, with his full control over Russia's TV propaganda machine, can prevent the people of Russia from rising up against him now remains to be seen. 

UPDATE: 5 October 2024 

Kris Boratyn (left) reports that,

"Vladimir Putin is reportedly feeling the strain of economic pressures that resemble those that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
...
Draft budget documents also showed Moscow plans to boost national defence spending by a quarter in 2025 to 6.3 percent of GDP - the highest level since the Cold War.

In contrast, the Russian government is cutting back on social services, including pensions by around 15 percent.

"So Putin knows his economy is under pressure,” a Western official said, adding this mirrors the economic strain that contributed to the Soviet Union’s downfall." (Express: 4 October 2024) (my emphasis) 

Putin now has nowhere behind which he could 'politically' hide.

 

 

 

(to be continued)