Russia’s Nuclear Weapons In Ukraine? Vladimir Putin May Invade Using Crimea, Claims U.S. Congress

Members of the U.S. House national security committees are warning that we may soon see Russia’s nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and they are calling on President Barack Obama to “acknowledge that Russian troops” inside Ukraine “represent an invasion” by Vladimir Putin’s government.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, the Doomsday Clock ticked two minutes closer to midnight based upon concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation and climate change. A former Russian general warned the world about Russia’s nuclear weapons plans, claiming that the world is close to World War 3, not merely a new Cold War.

After signing the Ukraine Freedom Support Act into law on December 18, 2014, President Obama was given two months to enact the actions required by the legislation, which would give Ukraine lethal aid at the cost of $350 million. This means the Obama administration has until February 16, 2015, to comply with Congress, but so far has not shown any indication of action.

Rep. Mike Turner believes Obama needs to respond to Vladimir Putin with the U.S. military.

“I think it needs to be a military deterrent. Russia should see they don’t have unfettered military reach throughout Europe without there being a credible military response,” Turner said, according to Defense News. “The fact that [Obama] has almost been so committed to a diplomatic and sanctions regime that he seems blind to the true military actions that are happening… I’m at a loss why the president doesn’t even acknowledge this as an invasion.”

While Obama will not send Ukraine lethal aid, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said on Wednesday that Russia has doubled its support of Ukrainian separatists in eastern Ukraine since the beginning of the ceasefire in December.

“When you look at the amount of Russian equipment that the proxies were using prior to the Minsk agreements, that amount has doubled beginning in December into the hundreds,” he said, adding that Russian surveillance drones have been spotted gathering intelligence. “Those are not the types of things you would find in a militia. They clearly are coming from a modern military force coming from Russia.”

According to the Hill, the Army’s top commander in Europe also accused Russia of sending 9,000 Russian troops into Ukraine. But what Turner fears is that “Russia is engaged in very provocative actions with their nuclear weapons programs.” Writing together with House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, Turner wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warning of Russia’s nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“We write to express deep concern about Russia’s repeatedly stated position that it has the right — and the intention — to deploy its nuclear weapons in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Such provocative and illegal use of its nuclear forces signals a dangerous escalation in Russia’s recent aggression and poses a new military threat to US allies and deployed forces in Europe. We believe it is well past time for the US to respond assertively to defend its interests.”

In the past, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that positioning Russia’s nuclear weapons into Crimea would not violate previous treaties.

“Crimea was not a non-nuclear zone in an international law sense but was part of Ukraine, a state which doesn’t possess nuclear arms,” Lavrov said according to the Los Angeles Times. “Now, Crimea has become part of a state which possesses such weapons, in accordance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. In accordance with international law, Russia has every reason to dispose of its nuclear arsenal … to suit its interests and international legal obligation.”

As response to the policies of Vladimir Putin, Turner and Rogers claim that the U.S. military should deploy “new sites for the deployment of dual-capable aircraft and forward-deployed nuclear weapons.” In the past, U.S. officials have suggested the Pentagon is seriously considering the possibility of stationing U.S. cruise missiles in Europe.