Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter gave an interview to James Freeman of TNT News on Sept. 2, in which he discussed the blisteringly dangerous escalation toward nuclear war around NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine and the news that Russia is considering changes to its nuclear doctrine. Toward the end of the interview, the host asked Ritter about how Russia is responding to the recent moves by NATO and the U.S. to supply longer-range missiles to Ukraine, or similar provocative actions. Ritter spoke bluntly in response:
“When you give Ukraine deep-strike, precision-guided weapons that can strike Moscow and other places; when you have nuclear arsenals in NATO on alert; when you have aircraft carriers forward deployed … it’s not paranoia for Russia to go ‘1+1+1+1+1=a potential of a preemptive strike.’ Which is why Russia has changed its nuclear doctrine as we speak. The deputy foreign minister has announced this… The Russians have changed their attitude toward nuclear war and their nuclear posture. Russia is leaning toward preemption of its own—they are not going to wait to be struck. If it looks like NATO, the U.S., whether directly or through proxy, is going to strike Russia in a way that threatens its national command-and-control capabilities, Russia will not wait to be attacked. Once Russia believes it’s about to be attacked, it will preempt, and it will preempt with nuclear weapons.”
