The nuclear “readiness” of the US and UK has been questioned as troop deployments in Ukraine further escalate already fierce tensions between the West and Russia.
It comes after an “irresponsible” verbal escalation between leaders in Russia and NATO which has further rang alarm bells about the possibility of nuclear war. Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia’s nuclear arsenal was in “full combat readiness” – although the despot has been known to overstate the capabilities of his military.
Former Navy Seal and founder of private military company Blackwater, Erik Prince, told GB News that the readiness of both Russia and the West remains unclear. He said: “I question how ready and tuned up their arsenal is – I also question how ready and tuned up America’s nuclear arsenal is, and I also question how tuned up and ready Britain’s nuclear arsenal is.”
He added: “Assumptions are really bad. They are extremely dangerous. As my dad told me: ‘When you assume, you make an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’.”
Putin warned that putting NATO or other Western troops in Ukraine would bring “tragic” consequences. However, France’s President Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out putting boots on the ground in a speech last Monday.
Mr Prince called for a Korea-style peace between Russia and Ukraine in the region, saying: “even a peace like the DMZ between North and South Korea… is still much cheaper than losing hundreds of guys a day in constant artillery duels”.
He added he didn’t “see the point in the US continuing to fund an effort which is only killing Ukrainian and Russian men on both sides”.
Russia has given no indication it would accept a peace treaty of the terms Mr Prince laid out. He also claimed to have given Joe Biden a foreign policy paper in December 2021, two months before the invasion, which recommended sending more than 200 US combat aircraft to Ukraine, including F15 and F16 fighter jets, that had been slated for retirement.
He insisted this would have cost $400-500million, and would have deterred a Russian attack. The expert said the “real window” for negotiations had long passed, and Russia had little incentive to ease up the combat as its war machine is fuelled by supplies from “the Iranians, the Chinese with propellant and shells, and North Korea”.
