Liz Truss and Strategic Instability

"Judging by the statements of Mrs. Truss about our country, which she made when she was Minister of Foreign Affairs and a candidate for this post [Prime Minister]," said the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, "relations between Moscow and London are unlikely to change for the better. Peskov did not specify whether Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to congratulate Liz Truss on his election victory, The Moscow Post correspondent reports.

In 2021, Truss called Russia responsible for the migration crisis on the border of Poland and Belarus and said that Russia "should put pressure on the Belarusian authorities," accused the Kremlin of "malicious activity." She warned Moscow about a "strategic mistake" in the event of an invasion of Ukraine.

In early 2022, the British Foreign Ministry accused Russia of preparing a coup in Ukraine. At the end of February, Truss expressed that "Putin must lose," and if this does not happen, then "we will see that other countries are under threat: the Baltic States, Poland, Moldova, and this may end in a conflict with NATO."

Degradation of Western elites

The problem of degradation of Western elites is on everyone's lips. Britain's elite are no exception. But one cannot fail to notice that Liz Truss, who made her way to the post of prime minister, deserves special "attention" from the international community, and, above all, the leaders of the states that are members of the UN Security Council and the G7 countries.

Under her leadership, the United Kingdom can pose a source of increased danger. This belligerent lady has already managed to talk a lot about relations between Great Britain and Russia, and with China.

While Truss was foreign minister, London introduced, in her words, the "toughest" sanctions against Russia. She warned of strategic dependence on both China and Russia, and condemned Beijing's "provocative language" in the situation around Taiwan. Under Truss, at the head of the Foreign Ministry, Britain was one of the first to supply weapons to Kyiv. She is in favor of preventing Iran from creating nuclear weapons and signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation with Israel.

"The era of cooperation with Russia is over," Business Insider quoted her as saying. Truss said the G-7 should become an "economic NATO" capable of protecting its members from economic leverage. It is G7 that should play an active role in the new security architecture, and not the UN Security Council, where Russia has a veto.

But it's not so much about words as nuclear weapons at London's disposal. Until recently, the leaders of the five permanent members of the Security Council, who have nuclear weapons at their disposal, treated conversations on this topic with great caution. The UK is being knocked out of this and Liz Truss needs urgent help while psychological. After all, it was she who made everyone flinch when she announced that she could use nuclear weapons if she became prime minister.

I'm ready to do it

"I think it's [the use of nuclear weapons] an important responsibility of the prime minister. I am prepared to do so even if it means "global annihilation," "she said, speaking in Birmingham and answering the question" how will she feel "if such a decision is made. The British newspaper Mirror reported the conversation as follows.

The questioner said he felt "physically ill" at the prospect, but Truss seemed dispassionate when she replied that she would order the use of nuclear weapons, that such a choice was "an important responsibility of the prime minister." In her answer, there was no place for what she could or would "feel."

The UK is one of the "nuclear five" countries, which includes Russia, the USA, China and France. According to The Bulletin, the country currently possesses 225 nuclear warheads, of which 120 are in operational readiness and are deployed on four nuclear submarines (SSBNs) of the Vangard project with ballistic missiles. Work is underway on a new generation of Dreadnought strategic missile carriers and increasing the number of warheads to 260 units.

British SSBNs are based at Naval Base Clyde in Scotland. The nuclear arsenal can be used both independently and as part of NATO nuclear forces. The order for the use of nuclear weapons is given by the Prime Minister. Although, according to experts, the decision is made collectively.

The Chinese edition of Huanqiu Shibao also noted in the spring of 2021 that the so-called "deliberate ambiguity" of London, as well as the increase in the number of deployed nuclear warheads, means avoiding "transparency" in nuclear planning. Moreover, "the United Kingdom plans to significantly increase the number of nuclear warheads, pointing its tip at Russia, which cannot but complicate further nuclear disarmament by the United States and Russia," the newspaper noted.

It is useless to discuss

Liz Truss's statements on nuclear weapons lower the threshold for its use, and London's rhetoric on this topic is "unbridled," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. The deputy minister also said in an interview with International Life magazine that he "would not like to build a chronology of statements by British officials on this topic. But the fact that the general disfigurement of rhetoric is, of course, striking and, by and large, significantly different from what we have dealt with in the past. "

Ryabkov added that Truss' statements "certainly lower" the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. And there is no platform for discussion either, except for the UN. The leaders of the five nuclear powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, Great Britain, China, the United States and France on January 3, 2022 adopted a joint statement on the prevention of nuclear war and the prevention of an arms race. The document is published on the Kremlin website.

"We intend to continue to seek bilateral and multilateral diplomatic approaches in order to avoid military confrontation, strengthen stability and predictability, increase mutual understanding and trust and prevent an arms race that will not benefit anyone and will become a threat to everyone. We are determined to conduct a constructive dialogue based on mutual respect and recognition of each other's interests and concerns in the field of security, "the joint statement emphasizes.

After that, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opposed the possibility of war with its use for nuclear-weapon countries. He also called on world leaders to permanently abandon the possibility of using nuclear weapons. "Today, humanity is separated by only one misunderstanding, one miscalculation from nuclear destruction. <...> So far, we have been lucky, but luck is not a strategy, "the Secretary General said.

A tanker in a fur hat

No one can say whether all of us will be "lucky" with Liz Truss, who gained control of the "red button." Her general attitude towards Russia cannot but inspire distrust and even fear. She has been nicknamed the "Conservative hand grenade" in political circles for her determination and tenacity. Since the beginning of the special operation, she has actively supported Kyiv, called Moscow an "outcast" and assured that she would not calm down until the Russian economy was destroyed.

The psychological portrait of Truss must be compiled by specialists. Open sources suggest that she differs from the leaders of Germany and France in greater aggressiveness, uncompromising and unpredictability. Truss loves bright colors, especially red, since childhood she did not like her first name. Her name is actually Mary Elizabeth Truss. She was ambitious, loved to command and did not tolerate competition, was afraid to lose in board games.

At the very beginning of her political career, Truss joined the Conservative party, which unpleasantly struck her family, especially her father. Later she made excuses: "We all make mistakes in our youth. Someone is on drugs. And someone joins the Liberal Democrats. " While studying at Oxford, she advocated the legalization of marijuana.

After five years of marriage, she had an affair with a member of parliament, her political mentor. She convinced her husband that he was the father of their daughter, who was born in March 2006. They later had a second daughter. But Truss's political career was nearly cut short by the scandal.

At 38, Truss became the youngest woman - a member of the cabinet with the portfolio of the Minister of Environment, Food and Agriculture. In Theresa's cabinet, May was justice minister and lord chancellor (the first woman in history to hold the post). In the second cabinet, May Truss served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She was accused of embezzlement of public funds when she flew to Australia on a government plane for $670,000.

In British newspapers, the Foreign Minister was nicknamed "Thatcher 2.0." She even rode a NATO tank in Estonia, just to achieve a resemblance to Thatcher, who in 1986 rode a tank in Germany. Arriving in Moscow, she did not miss the opportunity to walk around Red Square in a fur coat and hat, like her idol in 1987. She behaved unfriendly.

Lessons in history, geography...

It so coincided that on the same day that the freshly baked prime minister celebrated the long-awaited victory, Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted (as if for Truss) a remote geography lesson combined with economics, politics and history.

Speaking in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at a meeting on the socio-economic development of Kamchatka, Vladimir Putin recalled that on September 5 (in a new style) in 1854 the Peter and Paul Defense ended, in which the Russians defeated the superior forces of the British and French during the Crimean War. The Russian president called it only "one of the pages of strengthening Russia in the Far East."

Then, an Anglo-French squadron consisting of four frigates, a steamer and a brig with 2.7 thousand personnel, including 500 marine soldiers, arrived on the shores of Kamchatka. The ships of the squadron had over 200 guns on board. The population of the city of Petropavlovsk and its environs was about 1600 people, the garrison before strengthening totaled only 230 people.

The battle took place in two stages - September 1 and 5, 1854, when two attempts were made to assault with the landing of three landings on the shores of Avacha Bay. Both troops exceeded the defense forces. The losses of the aggressor during the second assault amounted to about 400 people killed, 150 wounded and 4 prisoners. During the entire battle, the Russians lost over 100 people, all losses of the British and French are unknown.

… and today's realities

The losses of Great Britain and its allies in the current stage of confrontation with Russia may many times exceed the losses of the Anglo-French squadron suffered during the assaults on Kamchatka. London's attempts to harm Moscow remotely will not remain unanswered. The Kyiv authorities are already receiving this answer. Including, paying with the lives of thousands of their military who have undergone a training course in Britain, according to the British TV channel Sky News.

In a farewell speech, Johnson punished the successor to "protect the Ukrainians" and Truss took it with enthusiasm. It is possible that her first foreign trip will be a visit to Zelensky. And the question is, is Truss even generally capable of articulating Britain's long-term interests outside the confines of the showdown with Russia and China, or outside the context of rivalries with Labour?

"If Boris Johnson had a certain purpose in relation to Ukraine, then Liz Truss does not understand anything about this at all. She really doesn't understand that the united West is in crisis. The only thing that may be is that Britain, having received such a leader, will enter a political crisis and will not be able to so fiercely demand that everyone support Kyiv with weapons and shells. But this will not happen now, "said political analyst Dmitry Drobnitsky.

Let's add on our own: unless a severe energy crisis speeds up the process.

Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS