We are still with our guest Mr. Adam Barker. He is an Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. history, Government, and Economics teacher in California. He has a degree in Political Science from the California State University and a Masters degree in comparative politics and Communist regimes of Eastern Europe from the George Washington University.

This week we talked about the latest reports that Russia is making more threats against Ukraine and now also the U.S. and the U.K. According to media reports, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said that Moscow possesses information that Ukraine plans to strike Crimea with US supplied HIMARS long range rocket systems and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles. He added that if Crimea is bombed the U.S. and U.K. will be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centres in Ukraine.

However, Mr. Barker said that it is probably the world's worst kept secret that Ukraine intends to recapture the Crimean peninsula from Russia - obviously, Ukraine is going to try to recapture Crimea. He said that when Russia invaded and seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 it did so in violation of international law and in violation of the borders of Ukraine that Russia itself recognized.

In international law, he said especially members of the United Nations agree that if they recognized another country they are saying "yes, we recognize this country X, and the borders as defined by country X -  and in this case Russia recognized Ukraine and it's borders. They exchanged ambassadors, had diplomatic relations, you could travel from Russia to Ukraine - Ukraine to Russia, etc. So, when Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine it was just grabbing it -stealing. He added that unless you go back to medieval history and the origins of Russia and Ukraine, the peculiar events of 1991 and the disintegration of the USSR are the real the cause of the current situation.

Mr. Barker also said that the U.K. and U.S. have already given Ukraine Himars and Storm Shaddow and Ukraine seems to have been using both of them and various types of drones of unknown type. The U.S. and U.K. are providing Ukraine with ever more capable, more lethal and longer range Fires - missiles and rocket artillery able to reach very far if Ukraine wanted to hit targets deep inside Russia.

"Actually Ukraine already today can strike and apparently has struck targets in Moscow so the issue is not whether Ukraine could do that in fact Ukraine has said all along that they reserves the right to strike anywhere in Russia because Russia is doing that to Ukraine. So, the issue is if the U.K. and the U.S. give Ukraine those missiles and Ukraine uses those missiles isn't that the U.K. and the U.S. in effect going to war with Ukraine?.

Mr. Barker also said that Russia is afraid of the Americans and they are afraid of NATO. He also believes that Putin might use a tactical nuclear device, which is a small nuclear bomb, somewhere in Ukraine but he will not use nuclear weapons against NATO. He said that if he does that he is personally dead, his regime is finished, and Europe, India, and China will break off diplomatic relations with Russia, and they will not trade with  Russia as long as Putin is in power. 

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