Russian news presenter Dmitry Kiselyov, has warned the United States any “impudent behaviour” towards Moscow could have “nuclear” implications.
Kiselyov, who was appointed by Vladimir Putin to head the country’s government-owned news agency, made the warning on Monday night’s edition of his flagship current affairs programme Vesti Nedeli (News of the Week). Relations between the two countries hit a new low on Friday afterWashington accused Moscow of war crimes following a sustained bombardment of the besieged Syrian city Aleppo, where at least 250,000 people are still living in the rebel-held east of the city.
On Saturday, Russia vetoed a motion put to the UN Security Council demanding an immediate end to the bombing campaign in Aleppo. A rival motion proposed by Russia was also rejected at the meeting calling for a fresh ceasefire but did not explicitly mention the bombing. Mr Kiselyov said there had been a “radical change” in the relationship between Russia and the US in recent weeks, the BBC reports.
“The loud talk in Washington of a ‘Plan B’ for Syria. Everyone understands what this means: direct military force in Syria,” he said.
During Monday’s programme a Russian defence ministry spokesman also warned US bombers not to target the Syrian army. “We’ll shoot them down,” commented Mr Kiselyov. His most recent comments come as Russia bolsters its military presence in the Mediterranean and Baltic regions. Russia recently deployed the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles system to Syria and sent three war ships armed with Malakhit cruise missiles from the Black Sea Fleet to the Mediterranean.
On Saturday, Moscow confirmed it has started moving nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles into the Kaliningrad, an act Poland said it considers a matter of the “highest concern”. The German foreign minister claimed that mounting tensions between the US and Russia have led to a global political situation which is “more dangerous” than the Cold War.
Writing for German newspaper Bild, Frank-Walter Steinmeir wrote: “It’s a fallacy to think that this is like the Cold War. The current times are different and more dangerous”.
source: Independent.co.uk
