A Russian lawmaker issued a warning to the United States about its nuclear doctrine following remarks from General Christopher Donahue about Kaliningrad.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, as well as the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, for comment.
Why It Matters
The Russia-Ukraine war, launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022, has fueled nuclear concerns across the globe. The invasion of Ukraine strained already-frayed relations between Russia and the U.S., as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance of the U.S., Canada and European allies.
President Donald Trump has taken a different approach to Russia and Ukraine than his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, such as more directly engaging with Moscow and has been more willing to criticize Ukrainian officials like President Volodymyr Zelensky. He has, however, recently ramped up criticism of Putin.
What to Know
The latest remarks from Donahue, reported first by Defense News, drew scrutiny from Russia.
Donahue said that Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave surrounded by Poland and Lithuania, is surrounded by NATO and that the alliance could “take that down from the ground in a timeframe that is unheard of and faster than we’ve ever been able to do,” Defense News reported.
Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky smiles in the hallway of the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg on April 26, 2024.
Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky smiles in the hallway of the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg on April 26, 2024.
Contributor/Getty Images
Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma, responded to those comments in remarks reported by Russian state media TASS.
“An attack on the Kaliningrad Region will mean an attack on Russia, with all due retaliatory measures, stipulated, among other things, by its nuclear doctrine. The US general should take this into account before making such statements,” Slutsky said.
He added that NATO “poses a threat to global security and stability.”
Slutsky is the second Russian official to make nuclear remarks toward the U.S. this week. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said Russia’s nuclear doctrine “remains in effect” after Trump announced the U.S. and NATO allies will supply advanced weapons to Ukraine.
Donahue’s remarks came as he discussed the “Eastern Flank Deterrence Line,” a plan to improve ground-based capabilities across the alliance at the LandEuro in Wiesbaden, Germany, Defense News reported.
What People Are Saying
Donahue said, per Defense News: “We know what we have to develop and the use case that we’re using is you have to [deter] from the ground. The land domain is not becoming less important, it’s becoming more important. You can now take down [anti-access, aerial-denial] A2AD bubbles from the ground. You can now take over sea from the ground. All of those things we are watching happen in Ukraine.”
Dr. Stephen Hall of the University of Bath told The Kyiv Independent of Donahue’s remarks: “It’s merely trying to shore up the effect that America is going to be here for the long haul and that NATO is going to be a military organization for a lot longer.”
What’s Happens Next?
Tensions between the U.S. and Russia are likely to remain high, though there are no known plans for a Western attack on Kaliningrad.