A Russian state TV host has said the U.S. is attempting to escalate the Kremlin into striking the West in order to spark a nuclear conflict.
A YouTube clip of TV host Alexei Gudoshnikov's comments was shared on Twitter byJulia Davis, who runs the Russian Media Monitor project.
This assessment by Gudoshnikov came as Russia prepares to station nuclear weapons in Belarus. This will mark the first time in decades the Kremlin has done this.
While discussing the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the West's influence on the war, Gudoshnikov said: "What if they not only don't mind but actually want us to conduct a strike?
"Let me explain why... I think hundreds of millions of Americans don't want this. But there are certain parts of the elites who know that any missile, except for the hypersonic one, would take 30 minutes to get there.
"They could go underground and wait it out during several strikes. After that, they'll talk about Russia's terrible savagery and about what a horrible genocide it was.
"Everyone else will die, except for Joe Biden. Everyone else will die, except for Zelensky. Everyone else will die, except for the governments in London or other NATO countries because they will have time to leave.
"It can be done in several minutes and they will have 20-30 minutes to spare. That's why I suspect that these guys are ready for this turn of events as well. They understand this very well and they are ready.
"Perhaps this looks like madness but on the other hand, based on their statements, this is exactly what it looks like."
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Federation Press Department via email for comment.
Despite the fears of further escalation of the Ukrainian war, over the weekend, Putin defended the decision to move nuclear weapons into Belarus.
While still facing global condemnation for invading Ukraine in 2022, Belarus has remained an ally of Russia.
During a broadcast on Saturday, Putin said how the two nations have been working together.
He said: "I would like to highlight that, without breaking our international commitments on not spreading nuclear weapons, we already helped our Belarus colleagues to re-equip their planes. Planes of Belarus Air Forces. Ten planes are ready for using this type of weapon.
"We already transferred to Belarus our well-known and very effective Iskander complex, and it can also be a carrier.
Speaking specifically about the movement of nuclear weapons, Putin said: "They [the U.S.] have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries."
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Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
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