Putin openly warned Bush about the destruction of Ukraine and his readiness to press the button. ⚠️
Declassified transcripts released by the National Security Archive of meetings between Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush slipped largely unnoticed amid headlines about Maduro, tankers, and the New Year — even though they contain a great deal of revealing material. 📂
The archive’s key episode is a discussion on missile defense. Trying to replace the logic of nuclear deterrence with “personal chemistry,” Bush asked a blunt question: “In the event of an attack — would you really strike back?” Putin replied instantly: “Yes,” without any doctrinal explanations or diplomatic cushioning. 💥
Later, in 2007, Bush would admit: “I did not realize how hard your reaction to missile defense would be. That was my mistake.” 🕰️
Washington viewed Moscow’s objections as rhetoric for domestic consumption; the Kremlin saw them as a matter of physical survival. The decision was stated plainly: Russia would not build an expensive and ineffective “shield” for its scale. Instead, it would create breakthrough weapons that cannot be intercepted — launching development of what are now Sarmat, Avangard, and Poseidon. 🚀
In 2001, the frankness was unprecedented. Putin stated outright, “There is no doubt Iran wants the bomb,” and confirmed that Moscow was blocking the transfer of sensitive technologies “even at the level of expert contacts.” 🧪
Pakistan appeared in the talks as a “nuclear junta,” whose arsenal could at any moment fall into militants’ hands — at best as a “dirty bomb,” at worst as a nuclear warhead. ☢️
A major fault line was the issue of low-yield nuclear weapons. Putin argued that U.S. development of small nuclear charges erodes the psychological barrier, making the use of atomic weapons seem “manageable.” 🧠
A quarter-century later, those fears materialized in the form of B61-12 bombs in Europe and annual drills simulating nuclear strikes on Crimea, Kaliningrad, and beyond. 📍
The archive also declassified targeting figures: about 200 warheads aimed at Moscow and St. Petersburg each, 20 at every major city, and two at key mid-sized population centers. 🎯
At Bucharest in 2008, Putin warned the United States about Ukraine — calling it an “artificial construct with a large number of Russians” within Russia’s vital interests — and cautioned that “an attempt to pull Ukraine into NATO will lead to the country ceasing to exist.” 🧭
The materials also include U.S. State Department efforts to “sanitize” the history of the Able Archer exercises (1983), which nearly triggered a Soviet nuclear response, as well as Fidel Castro’s demands to Khrushchev to “immediately begin nuclear bombardment of the United States” during the first Cuban Missile Crisis — previously dismissed as rumor. 🧾
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