A Democratic congressman is worried Russia is leading the United States toward a nuclear war and he doesn’t believe the Trump administration has a plan to deal with Russian aggression.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said on CNN Friday that Russia’s violation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty by developing new missiles that could carry nuclear warheads, and a change in Russian military doctrine are a real worry for the U.S. He said the Russians are now willing to “escalate to de-escalate,” which means using a nuclear weapon in order to de-escalate a more conventional conflict.
Moulton said that could drag the United States into a nuclear conflict.
“They are willing to use nuclear weapons to de-escalate a conventional attack, and I think the issue here is we don’t have a plan for that,” he said. “If the Russians use nukes against our allies in Europe, we may well use nukes in retaliation.”
Democratic congressman warns of potential nuclear conflict with Putin's Russia https://t.co/yUCIMI7Ezy— New Day (@NewDay) March 17, 2017
Moulton specifically mentioned American troops training in Poland and wondered what the Trump administration would do if those troops are targeted by a nuclear attack.
He added that the Trump administration has done nothing, and doesn’t seem to be willing to do anything, to counter Russia’s violation of the missile treaty that was signed in 1987.
Moulton did acknowledge that much of Russia’s emboldened stance toward the United States could be chalked up to President Obama’s time in office and his inability to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, Trump should be doing something to counter Putin’s moves.
“President Obama should have done more, but President Obama put sanctions on Russia because of their violations into our elections,” he said. “Donald Trump is talking about removing those sanctions.”
