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Putin/Trump Summit Day Arrives

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Putin/Trump Summit Day Arrives

by Stephen Lendman

Whatever comes out of Monday summit talks, it’s a chance to step back from the brink of possible nuclear confrontation - if only temporarily. Realpolitik is another matter entirely.

Trump earlier rejected Obama’s 2010 New START Treaty with Russia, calling it “a bad deal.”

He lied claiming Moscow breached the 1987 INF Treaty. He said America “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes,” adding:

“Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all” - an ominous threat. Can summit talks step back from them? Hold the cheers.

US imperial policy threatening Russia and China forced both countries to prepare for global war, risking mass annihilation without efforts to step back from the brink.

Putin earlier explained the following:

“It’s not us who have been speeding up the arms race. (Russia) need(s) to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems.”

Referring to Bush/Cheney’s pullout from the 1972 ABM Treaty, Putin explained “(w)hen one party unilaterally withdrew from the treaty and said it was going to create an anti-nuclear umbrella, the other party has to either create a similar umbrella…or create effective ways to overcome this anti-ballistic missile system and improve its strike capabilities.”

Putin understands the threat of the Trump regime’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). It reflects preparation for possible nuclear war, falsely claiming the US must address “an unprecedented range and mix of threats” posed by Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and other countries.

America’s only enemies are invented ones, no real ones since WW II ended. False claims otherwise unjustifiably justify recklessly high military spending, including Trump’s plan to spend around $1.5 trillion over the next 30 years to upgrade America’s nuclear arsenal.

Trump’s NPR falsely claims “(t)he United States remains committed to its efforts in support of the ultimate global elimination of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.”

Its longstanding permanent war agenda exposes the Big Lie. Prioritizing militarism and belligerence dashes hopes for world peace and stability, anathema notions rejected by extremists infesting both right wings of US duopoly rule.

Trump’s NPR claims about America facing “an unprecedented range and mix of threats, including major conventional, chemical, biological, nuclear, space, and cyber threats, and violent non- state actors” is utter rubbish.

US rage for endless wars of aggression, its contempt for all sovereign independent states, its aim to replace them with pro-Western puppet regimes, its longstanding hostility toward Russia as its number one adversary puts meaningful change in US/Kremlin relations out of reach.

Trump isn’t Reagan. In the eyes of the US political and media establishment, Putin isn’t Gorbachev.

Improving bilateral relations like earlier isn’t likely to be repeated from a few hours of Monday summit talks and whatever follows - not with virtually the entire US political and media establishment hostile to the idea.

Perhaps the best that can come out of Putin/Trump talks is “a small step away from the crisis, which our bilateral relations are currently facing,” as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained.

Even if it’s accomplished, how long will it last as long as dark forces in Washington want none of it?

The US has been hostile toward Moscow for over a century, punctuated only by brief periods of improved relations - things today more dismal than ever.

Expect no positive breakthroughs in Helsinki on Monday or from follow-up talks if occur.

It’s the disturbing reality of what Washington’s imperial agenda is all about - seeking dominance over all other nations, rejecting mutual cooperation, multi-world polarity, and peace in our time over endless wars.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].

 

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

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