Russian MP warns: Britain would be “literally erased from the face of the earth” if it launched nuclear attack
A Russian MP has warned that Britain risks being “literally erased from the face of the earth” in a nuclear war. Franz Klintsevich responded to the comments from Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who previously stated that “in the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you can’t rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike,” according to an Independent report.
Another translation, carried by the Russian news agency TASS, says Britain would be “razed to the ground” in a retaliatory strike.
Britain’s Defense Secretary made the comments in response to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who said the party’s manifesto might no longer retain the Trident deterrent. However, the Labour Party later corrected Corbyn’s statements.
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Fallon said Labour had left voters “completely unsure as to what would actually happen to our nuclear deterrent.”
The official added that Prime Minster Theresa May would be ready to use Trident as a “pre-emptive initial strike”.
“In the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you can’t rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike,” he said.
Asked in what circumstances, he replied: “They are better not specified or described, which would only give comfort to our enemies and make the deterrent less credible.
“The whole point about the deterrent is that you have got to leave uncertainty in the mind of anyone who might be thinking of using weapons against this country.”
Klintsevich, who in also part of the Russian Parliament‘s defence and security committee, referred to comments made by the Defense Secretary as “disgusting” and said it “deserves a tough response”.
He added: “In the best case this statement should be taken as an element of psychological war — which looks particularly disgusting in such a context.
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“Otherwise, it sounds really bad, because a reasonable question arises: Against whom is Great Britain going to preemptively use nuclear weapons?”
If Britain intended to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state, he added, “then probably English people desperately want to share the laurels of the USA who threw nuclear bombs at defenceless [Japanese cities] Hiroshima and Nagasaki [in 1945].”
“But those times have gone for good, as has the era of the greatness of the British Empire.”
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