those countries return those weapons immediately. and this of course is from a country which let us not forget has placed its own nuclear deterrent forces on a state of special alert. deterrent forces on a state of specialalert. it it deterrent forces on a state of special alert. i deterrent forces on a state of special alert. it it seems russia is seekin: special alert. it it seems russia is seeking to special alert. it it seems russia is seeking to extend special alert. it it seems russia is seeking to extend its special alert. it it seems russia is seeking to extend its sphere - special alert. it it seems russia is seeking to extend its sphere of i seeking to extend its sphere of influence and we did hear from ukraine s foreign minister that kiev was ready to talk to russia, but wouldn t be attending talks if it was just about ultimatums. is there a sense in russia if the talks were to start, it would get for example that massive military convoy to slow down while talks take
ministry of defence at chief of the general staff to put the strategic nuclear forces on special alert. russia has the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world and putin wouldn t be the first leader to give the order. in 1945 the us dropped two nuclear weapons onjapan effectively ending the second world war killing over 100,000 people. in 1949 the soviet union tested a bomb at this test site in what is now kazakhstan. then in 1962, the cuban missile crisis almost brought nuclear war between the us and russia, and having come so close in 1968 the world agreed a new arrangement, the nuclear non proliferation treaty. 191 countries are currently signed up. nuclear powers agreed to reduce their arsenals in exchange for others agreeing not to have them at all. in the 70s, the deals between the us and russia continued, two more focused on long range missiles, and though the rivalry of the superpowers intensified, in 1991 there was the new start treaty,
but i think after the dramatic events we ve seen in recent days, it would be unwise to dismiss these signals from the kremlin. a pointed message to the west don t push russia. president putin summoned his military chiefs and gave them an order. translation: top officials of leading nato countries i are making aggressive statements about our country. therefore, i m ordering the minister of defense and the chief of the general staff to put the strategic nuclear forces on special alert. would putin really use them? he practised a week ago overseeing exercises of russia s strategic deterrence forces. typically unsubtle hints to america and nato not to stand in his way over ukraine. this is now an age
so what is this, brinkmanship? something more or something less? empty threats? but i think after the dramatic events we ve seen in recent days, it would be unwise to dismiss these signals from the kremlin. a pointed message to the west don t push russia. president putin summoned his military chiefs and gave them an order. translation: top officials of leading nato countries i are making aggressive statements about our country. therefore, i m ordering the minister of defense and the chief of the general staff to put the strategic nuclear forces on special alert. would putin really use them? he practised a week ago overseeing exercises of russia s strategic deterrence forces. typically unsubtle hints to america and nato not to stand in his way over ukraine. this is now an age
forces on special alert . he says in a statement, dear colleagues, you see that western countries take not only unfriendly action towards our countries, these are economic, i mean illegitimate, sanctions that everyone knows about, he says. top ranking officials of nato s leading countries allow for aggressive statements towards our country. therefore i order the defence minister and the head of the general staff to put the strategic deterrent forces on special alert. and then the footage shows those two military chiefs acknowledging that order and in terms of the context, special alert is the highest level of alert for russia s strategic missile forces. that is the footage that has just been released in moscow. vladimir putin ordering the russian military to put its strategic nuclear forces on special alert. there has been instant reaction from the us, the us ambassador to the