Putin Threatens to Station Russian Military 90 Miles from United States
Cold War 2? The first shadows of World War 3? Whatever it is, this latest conflict between Russia and The United States could be getting a little close to home for that latter population.
The issue at hand is Ukraine. Russia looks to be in the last calm moments before an imminent invasion, and the rest of the world is warning against it. The United States, as per the usual, is the loudest voice in the crowd, forcefully and repeatedly telling Vladimir Putin that if he lays a finger on Ukraine, there will be Hell to pay.
But, not to be outdone of course, Vladimir Putin has now threatened to move Russian troops into position to act on US soil.
Following recent threats of a potential military deployment to Cuba earlier this month, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin discussed the “strategic partnership” and further coordination of “actions in the international arena” with Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel in a call disclosed Monday by the Kremlin.
In a tweet, Díaz-Canel said the two leaders held a “cordial and fruitful telephone conversation” about “the current international situation” and the development of “future links in different spheres.”
News of the conversation comes amid rising fears of a Russian military action in Ukraine. NATO said Monday it was putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe while President Joe Biden was reportedly considering sending troops to the region.
Cuba and Venezuela were dragged into the drama surrounding the conflict earlier this month after Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told a Russian television station that he could “neither confirm nor exclude” potential military deployments to the two Latin American nations.
The White House appeared resolute in their stance against the move.
“I’m not going to respond to bluster in the public commentary,” Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters at the time. “If Russia were to move in that direction, we would deal with it decisively.”
Putin has also threatened, through a well-known media mouthpiece, that those opposing his taking of Ukraine could find themselves turned to “radioactive dust”.