Kremlin: US Planes Will Be Downed if They Fly over Russian Territory

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
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Kremlin: US Planes Will Be Downed if They Fly over Russian Territory

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov took advantage of his presence on Wednesday at the World Youth Festival held in Sochi to send messages to the US and European countries through their delegations attending the conference.
In his speech, the presidential spokesperson spoke about several disputing files between Russia and the West, addressing US and EU delegations with phrases such as “We love you, we do not want war.”
He then blamed the policies of the ruling elites in Western countries for the deteriorating relations with Russia and for bringing the two sides to the brink of direct confrontation.
The spokesman then lengthily spoke about the file of US-Russian relations. “America is fighting against us. US tanks are moving through Russian territory. That's not good. They drive up to a point, and then they burn,” he said, hinting at the American-made tanks delivered to Ukraine and which Moscow says had crossed Russian territory.
He added that if American planes fly over Russian territory, the military will make them burn and fall.
“If American planes fly over our territory, I have no doubt that our valiant military will also make these planes burn and fall,” Peskov said.
On the Russian elections that will take place between March 15 and 17, the spokesman said any attempt from abroad to interfere in the presidential election later this month would be prevented.
“We do not dictate to anyone how to live - but we don't want others to dictate to us,” Peskov said.
Addressing the young US delegation at the Festival, Peskov said: “Russia will not interfere in the 2024 US elections. We never dictate how someone should live.”
Despite his strong tone, Peskov spoke about Moscow's readiness to dialogue with the West about accumulated controversial files.
He said Russia did not see Americans as enemies and said that the world's two biggest nuclear powers had special responsibility to ensure global strategic security.
Asked about the threat of nuclear war, Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Russian nuclear weapons can be used only in specific cases.
“Nuclear war is a last resort, a farewell remedy. Therefore, all the arguments about nuclear war, of which there are now a lot in the West – both in European capitals and in the United States – are extremely irresponsible and extremely dangerous because this topic is being routine. It is very dangerous,” he stressed.
Commenting on a leaked conversation between German military officers discussing a potential attack on the Crimean Bridge, Peskov said Moscow does not want war with Germany but it will tolerate plans to blow things up in Russia.
“We don’t want war. We don’t want to blow anything up and we don’t want anyone to plan to blow things up here. We will not turn a blind eye to that,” he said.
In a related development, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on the sidelines of the World Youth Festival that if US nuclear weapons were deployed to Northern Europe, the security of the countries hosting these weapons will by no means get stronger, but on the contrary be harmed.
She said the facilities in Northern Europe hosting US nuclear weapons will be included in the list of legitimate military targets under a scenario of a direct military clash between Russia and NATO.

“One does not have to be a military strategist to realize that such facilities will represent a source of direct threat and, naturally, will inevitably be included in the list of legitimate targets under a scenario of a direct military clash between our country and NATO,” Zakharova said.

 

 



The Seven States That Will Decide the US Presidency

Voters are reflected in a window near an American flag as they mark their ballots during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at City Hall in Providence, R.I. (AP)
Voters are reflected in a window near an American flag as they mark their ballots during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at City Hall in Providence, R.I. (AP)
TT

The Seven States That Will Decide the US Presidency

Voters are reflected in a window near an American flag as they mark their ballots during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at City Hall in Providence, R.I. (AP)
Voters are reflected in a window near an American flag as they mark their ballots during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at City Hall in Providence, R.I. (AP)

US Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are hurtling toward their November 5 election showdown, one of the closest contests in modern American history.

And in the handful of critical states framing the 2024 race, there is little daylight between the rivals with barely a week before Election Day.

Under the US Constitution, America's founding fathers established that each of the 50 states would hold its own vote for president.

Under the complex Electoral College system, each state has a certain number of "electors," based on population. Most states have a winner-take-all system that awards all electors to whoever wins the popular vote.

With candidates needing 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win, elections tend to be decided in the hotly contested "swing states" with a history of alternating between Republican and Democratic candidates.

This year, there are seven such battlegrounds, and every one is a toss-up within the margin of error. Here is a look:

- Pennsylvania (19 Electoral College votes) -

Pennsylvania was once reliably Democratic, but these days, they don't come much tighter than the Keystone State.

Republican Trump won the most populous battleground, with 13 million residents, by 0.7 percentage points in 2016. Joe Biden claimed it by 1.2 percentage points in 2020.

Known for its "Rust Belt" cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been blighted for decades by the steady decline of its industrial manufacturing base.

Trump and Harris have campaigned repeatedly in the eastern state, where the pair held their one and only presidential debate. Trump, who survived an assassination attempt at a July rally in Pennsylvania, is courting the rural white population and warning that migrants are overwhelming small towns.

Harris is touting recent infrastructure wins, and in Pittsburgh she outlined plans to invest $100 billion in manufacturing, a key issue for state residents.

- Georgia (16) -

This southeastern state was an election flashpoint at the end of Trump's first term, and the controversy simmers.

Prosecutors in Georgia indicted Trump in an election interference case after he called state officials urging them to "find" enough votes to overturn Biden's narrow 2020 victory.

But in a boost for Trump, the case is paused until after the election.

Biden was the first Democrat to win the Peach State since 1992. Demographic changes are likely to benefit Harris, who has courted minority voters across Georgia.

- North Carolina (16) -

The southeastern state has voted Democratic only once since 1980, but Harris believes it's back in play.

The population, now over 10 million, is expanding and growing more diverse, benefiting Democrats.

Complicating matters for Trump, a scandal involving the state's Republican gubernatorial candidate has infuriated party officials who worry it could sink Trump in a close race.

As in neighboring Georgia, one wild card is how the devastation from storm Helene, which recently laid waste to towns in western North Carolina, might impact the vote.

- Michigan (15) -

Trump flipped Michigan, a former Democratic stronghold, on his way to defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Biden returned it to the blue column in 2020, buoyed by unionized workers and a large Black community.

But this time, Harris risks losing the support of a 200,000-strong Arab-American community that has denounced Biden's -- and by extension her -- handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

- Arizona (11) -

The Grand Canyon state was among 2020's tightest races, with Biden triumphing by just 10,457 votes.

Trump hopes frustrations over the Biden-Harris administration's immigration policy will swing Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico, back in his favor.

Harris visited Arizona's border in September vowing to crack down on migration and work on reviving last year's bipartisan border bill, which she said Trump "tanked" for political purposes.

- Wisconsin (10) -

Clinton lost Wisconsin after giving the state a wide berth during the 2016 campaign.

As with Midwestern neighbor Michigan, it was a different story when Trump's opponent was Biden, who turned a 23,000-vote deficit into a winning margin of 21,000 for Democrats.

Trump considers it winnable, and his party held its summer national convention there.

While Trump led early against Biden, Harris has made the state race a nailbiter.

- Nevada (6) -

The Silver State, with a population of 3.1 million, hasn't voted Republican since 2004. Conservatives, buoyed by Trump's headway with Hispanic voters, are convinced they can flip the script.

Trump held a significant lead here against Biden.

But within weeks of becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris -- promoting her economic plans to help small businesses and combat inflation -- has erased that advantage in the western state, whose largest city Las Vegas is dominated by the hospitality industry.