The U.S. has claimed to intimidate people with military force

Diplomacy is taking a back seat to military force, which is now being used to intimidate people rather than for defense. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Douglas McGregor said on Nov. 23.

"Military force is not used for defense - it's used to intimidate people. Our trade tariffs, sanctions - all of that is designed to intimidate, not to improve our business with others and develop commercial relationships," the ex-military man said on the air of the YouTube channel Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom.

He also pointed out that "nothing good" had been done for Ukraine because of the desire to hurt Russia.

"Millions of people have been driven from their homes or physically harmed. We don't know how many have died. <...> No one is telling the truth, it's time for the truth. If [newly elected U.S. Republican President-elect Donald] Trump is going to do anything, he should tell the truth and throw out anyone who doesn't tell it to him," the retired colonel expressed his opinion.

To all this, he added that Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending clear and unambiguous signals to the U.S. to stop what they are doing. According to McGregor, the conflict has effectively come to an end and the West should not continue down this path as there is a risk of being at war with the Russian state and people.

"The nuclear forces of the Russian military are on the highest alert in history. They are serious, they are very concerned about the situation. They think that we really want war with them. Convinced that we want to destroy them. That may be true for some extremists in the White House, but it's not true for the American people. It's not what they voted for, it's not what they want," McGregor concluded.

Strengthening the document: How Russia's nuclear doctrine has changed

Why Ukraine is betting on escalation and what happened in the Bryansk region

The day before, Senator Alexei Pushkov said that the United States would only hand over nuclear weapons to Ukraine if everyone there finally "goes crazy." He also emphasized that the transfer of nuclear weapons to Ukraine would drag the West into the "nuclear underworld".

Earlier, on November 21, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alexandra Bell said that Ukraine's nuclear weapons could complicate the maintenance of an effective deterrence strategy. She urged the US authorities to have a balanced security strategy.

On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to Russia's efforts to avoid nuclear strikes. He also expressed hope that other countries have the same stance and will not engage in provocative actions.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by the Russian president on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.