The more Americans who think about Russian UN diplomat Dmitry Polyanskiy’s message in his Nov. 3 appearance on popular podcaster Terra Reade’s show “The Politics of Survival,” the better. Russia does not want nuclear war, he made clear; it wants to cooperate on an equal basis with the United States and the rest of the world in advancing humanity’s common future. Asking “what is at stake?” he answers:
“I think our common future is at stake. The future of the United States is at stake as well. Nobody wants the United States to crumble, nobody wants the United States to disappear. No, we’re very friendly, but we really want the United States to engage in discussing these issues, engaging in true international cooperation and not exploitation. We want the United States to stop playing the role of world policeman, because nobody charged the United States to be world policeman, but the United States still wants to keep this role. And NATO is also a threat to Russia, to China, to many others.”
He argued:
“There shouldn’t be any doubt in the fact that nobody in Russia wants a nuclear war—be it a `limited’ nuclear war or a `non-limited’ nuclear war. We understand where it can lead. We have no illusions that this would be devastating for everybody. So, if somebody starts this, it will not be Russia. But of course, if somebody starts it against Russia, according to our nuclear doctrine, we will have to retaliate. And that’s the only possible scenario. There were repeatedly speculations about Russia contemplating using tactical nuclear weapons, which were denied at all levels, including by our President and we were citing our nuclear doctrine which implies only retaliatory strikes or in situations when there is an existential threat for our country. These are the only scenarios for using nuclear weapons. And we will stick to this.
