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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will treat F-16 multi-role fighter jets operated by Ukraine as nuclear-capable assets, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. "We cannot ignore the fact that these planes are dual-purpose platforms that can be used both for nuclear and non-nuclear tasks … No matter what modification of the aircraft will be supplied [to Ukraine] we will treat them as nuclear-capable and we will consider this step of the United States and NATO as a purposeful provocation," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry further warned the regime in Kiev and its Western donors that their reckless...

Russia warned Monday that the risk of a “direct military clash” between Russia and nuclear powers in the West is rising. “Westerners are dangerously balancing on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video message to the participants of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference. The comments come after Russia reacted angrily to the U.S. House of Representatives passing a $61 billion foreign aid package for Kyiv at the weekend. House lawmakers approved the aid Saturday despite long-standing objections from hardline Republicans; the bill now...

It would be nice to think that all we have to do is get out and vote to rid ourselves of these warmongers. But they control the elections, and they are in their glory. I do not see how we can avoid this war. They are doing everything in their power to prevent RFK from being on the ballot and to destroy Donald Trump, all so they retain their power with their hand puppet, Joe Biden. Before Biden was Vice President, I was at some dinner many years ago and I was not impressed with him back then. In fact,...

Russia's Foreign Ministry condemned on Saturday what it called Ukraine's "terrorist attack" on the Crimean Bridge, ..."There can be no justification for such barbaric actions and they will not go unanswered," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) says he is “thinking seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and declaring himself an independent before the 2024 election, when he will have to decide whether to run for a fourth Senate term or wage a third-party bid for president. Manchin, who earlier this year described himself as an independent Democrat, told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval on Thursday that the Democratic brand has “become so bad.” “I’m thinking seriously. For me, I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad — the D brand and R brand....

Russia will regard Western F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine as a "nuclear" threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. Modern warplanes have been at the forefront of Kyiv's demands for military aid from its Western allies as it fights back against Russia's offensive. Lavrov spoke of a US plan to transfer F-16s to Ukraine, although Washington has not given the go-ahead for any country to supply them. "Russia cannot ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons. No amount of assurances will help here," Lavrov was quoted as...

For seventy-five years of mutual deterrence, nuclear weapons have saved the world, and people just got used to it. Now we see with our own eyes that nuclear weapons no longer stop, because the unthinkable is happening: the West has unleashed a big war in the underbelly of a great nucler power... At some point, we also calmed down, went in line with Western theories and recklessly raised the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, which the West is now using for a reason. There all the time, semi-officials emphasize: no, the Russians will never use nuclear weapons. They...

In comments shared with Newsweek, Russia's ambassador to the United States has warned that a new resolution proposed by two U.S. senators threatens to push Washington and its NATO military alliance closer to a nuclear exchange with Moscow. Should such a war of mass destruction erupt, he warns, the U.S. would not be spared by its distance from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. ...Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut proposed a resolution Thursday that would consider any nuclear-related provocation by Russia or Belarus in Ukraine as a direct attack on NATO, triggering...

President Joe Biden said on Monday the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real", days after denouncing Russia's deployment of such weapons in Belarus. On Saturday, Biden called Putin's announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus "absolutely irresponsible". "When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. "They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons....

“The U.S. should be mindful that no matter how desperately it may seek to disarm (North Korea), it can never deprive (North Korea) of its right to self-defense and that the more hell-bent it gets on the anti-(North Korea) acts, it will face a more fatal security crisis,” she said in a statement carried by state media.

The US and Russian spy chiefs held a rare face-to-face meeting in Ankara Monday on Moscow's nuclear threats in Ukraine and Americans held prisoner by the Kremlin, the White House said. In what appeared to be the highest-level direct talks between officials of the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman confirmed the meeting, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said it came as "an initiative of the American side," according to Russian media. Peskov declined to...

A demonstration in the streets of Moscow reportedly shows Russians calling for Vladimir Putin to launch a nuclear strike on Washington, D.C. "Meanwhile in Russia: a rally, demanding for Moscow to strike Washington," Russian state TV blogger Julia Davis tweeted with a video of the demonstration. "They cite Putin's words: "We will go to heaven as martyrs and they will simply croak." The video shows a man chanting to the sounds of drums beating. "Strike the decision-making centers!" a translation of his words read on the chyron. "On Washington!" the marchers replied, according to the translation.

Two U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that senior Russian military officials discussed in mid-October how and when they might use nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine. The intelligence concerned U.S. officials because the relevant discussions came not long after Putin, seeing Ukrainian forces claw territory back from his troops, hinted that he could resort to nuclear weapons. The discussions among Russian officials, first reported by the New York Times, were not detailed by the U.S. officials who confirmed the intelligence to CBS News. In a statement shared with CBS News, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby...

Have you ever found yourself completely losing your temper in the middle of a heated struggle of some sort? Whether it is a hotly contested sporting event, an actual fist fight or a bitter battle against an online foe, it can be way too easy to lose your temper. And when tempers flare, you can end up losing control and doing things that you deeply regret later. Unfortunately, the same thing is true on an international level. Russia and NATO have both become absolutely obsessed with “winning” in Ukraine, and leaders on both sides are getting angrier and angrier. And...

INTERVIEW of Grigorij Mesežnikov: Why did Putin decide to start mobilization? Should we take the Kremlin's claims about a nuclear strike seriously? What can protests in the Russian Federation lead to? — Why did Putin decide to start mobilization? Did the people who stood for the war to the end win? — He decided to mobilize, because he no longer had a way out. In fact, he is a rat that has cornered itself. The Russian army is losing, and if such dynamics continue, then Ukraine could liberate a significant part of the territory that was captured by Russia by...

Ponder this: hundreds or thousands may have to freeze to death in order to help slow global warming. Huh?! Could there be a sadder and more preposterous statement than that? The BBC, a publicly-funded broadcaster implicitly entrusted with disseminating vital messages to the U.K. citizenry during times of national crisis, has allegedly already begun preparing emergency broadcasts designed to reassure the people of Britain should extensive winter blackouts be necessary in the coming months. These potential blackouts would inevitably cause disruptions to the Commonwealth’s banking systems, internet access, mobile phone networks, and traffic lights, among other things. And would, of...

U.S. President Joe Biden warned that global hunger could increase because of Russia’s suspension of a U.N.-brokered deal to allow safe passage for ships carrying Ukrainian grain. “It’s really outrageous,” said Biden speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.” Biden spoke hours after Russia announced it would immediately halt participation in the agreement, alleging that Ukraine staged a drone attack Saturday against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships off the coast of occupied Crimea. Ukraine has denied the attack.

Russia announced Saturday that it will immediately suspend its implementation of a U.N.-brokered grain deal that has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine during the war and has brought down soaring global food prices. ... The Russian declaration came one day after United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the grain export deal, which was scheduled to expire on Nov. 19. Guterres also urged other countries, mainly in the West, to expedite the removal of obstacles blocking Russian grain and fertilizer exports. The U.N. chief said the grain deal — brokered...

US companies specializing in the construction of next-generation smaller nuclear power plants aimed at improving the country's energy security find it difficult to obtain fuel for those power plants. There is only one company that sells such fuel, and unfortunately for them, the company is located in Russia, Reuters reports. The energy crisis that broke out as a result of Russia's special operation in Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions pushed Washington to develop nuclear industry faster. The USA already has designs for new modern reactors known as Small Modular Reactors. They are more efficient, faster and cheaper to build. However,...

Russia has said it is suspending its participation in the agreement to ensure the continuation of Ukrainian grain exports — vital for food supplies to poor countries — linking the decision to a drone attack on Russian ships in occupied Crimea on Saturday morning. The defence ministry announced the move, and it was also reported by the state news agency TASS. "Taking into account the terrorist act carried out by the Kyiv regime with the participation of British experts against ships of the Black Sea fleet and civilian vessels involved in the security of grain corridors, Russia suspends its participation...