The drone observed vehicles, including a truck carrying an armored personnel carrier, going in and out of Ukrainian territory through an unpaved road in a rebel-held area near the border with Russia. While the Republican presidential platform was being drafted in 2016, Trump campaign officials watered down language about supplying lethal aid to Ukraine. From the very beginning, this warfare would be characterized by a mutual unlimited use of all available mass destruction weapons, primarily strategic nuclear arsenals, which would entail a catastrophic aftermath not only for the two belligerent nations, but also for all the other countries of the world. It would be an outrageously reckless venture for both sides. "The purpose of the exercises is to increase the level of interoperability of our combat aircraft with the air forces of the United States and other member states of the alliance,". The latest flashpoint? Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesperson, said the Kremlin was "extremely concerned," adding: "If the current situation leans into the realm of illegal actions, then, of course, just like Russia protects the interests of Russian speakers, then likewise -- and Putin has said this many times -- Russia will protect the interests of Orthodox Christians.". It must also be said that a war can't be spontaneous and preparation for warfare takes time. Such words carry weight. On Monday, the Russian Orthodox Church broke ties with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the titular head of Orthodox Christianity, after Ukraine secured approval last week to establish an independent Orthodox church. Emerging powers see themselves as challenging the US for economic power, international influence, and regional leadership. Seems like the bilateral relations are at their worst today, but there are no ideological, economic, or territorial disputes that could provoke a large-scale war within a year. READ MORE: Russia’s new nuclear security policy approved by Putin, govt to implement within three months. Mikhail Khodarenok is a retired colonel. All rights reserved. Manafort was convicted in August on tax fraud and bank fraud charges, and. Moscow (CNN)In Europe, a shadow conflict is capturing headlines: The Salisbury poisonings and the unmasking of alleged Russian agents in the Netherlands suggest a return to Cold War-style spy games between Russia and the West. © Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, 2005–2020. "These weapons, including those @OSCE_SMM spotted by UAV, kill soldiers & civilians alike. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said such exercises would bring Ukraine's military into closer cooperation with the transatlantic alliance. The so-called Clear Sky exercise will include F-15C Eagle fighters, KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and MQ-9 Reaper drones operating from Miroslawiec Air Base in Poland. And, given the high level of modern intelligence systems, it would be impossible to keep the potential adversary unaware of the preparation process under way. They didn't clarify though what kind of war with Russia they expect. By Mikhail Khodarenok, military commentator for Gazeta.ru. No one can point out specific economic and sociopolitical factors and reasons that could trigger a military conflict between the US and Russia. Trump administration officials have been maintaining a harder line on Russia's role in Ukraine as the hot war continues in the eastern Donbas region. Speaking Friday with reporters in Rome, Kurt Volker, the Trump administration's point man on Ukraine, said the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine were "100% under Russia's command and control," despite Moscow's insistence that the war in Donbas is a local uprising. Apart from all that, armed confrontation between Moscow and Washington cannot start with only peacetime combat-ready units going into battle. Last week, the US Air Force kicked off a military exercise in Ukraine, primarily at Ukraine's Starokostiantyniv Air Base. Described as "essential", the B-2 stealth bomber also makes the cut, as the defence analysts say it would "almost certainly be an integral plan of any war between Russia and the United States". "A schism is always bad," Lukashenko said, according to, a statement released by the Moscow Patriarchate. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a meeting of his Security Council on the matter. In 2014, Putin justified the Crimea intervention as defending the interests of ethnic Russians. Read RT Privacy policy to find out more. In Minsk on Monday, Moscow Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, convened a synod to respond to the latest developments over Ukraine's move to distance itself from the Russian church. One of the trucks carried an anti-aircraft gun. Ukraine may not be a NATO member, but the Ukrainian government aspires to NATO membership. Think your friends would be interested? US servicemen stand in front of F-15 fighter jets during air force exercises at Starokostiantyniv Air Base. According to Lewis, "the US finds itself now in a world where its soft power is diminished and its hard power less useful." Could the Syrian war lead to a US-Russia conflict? Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you, China on notice as America’s next big enemy, right after Russia, Russia’s new nuclear security policy approved by Putin, govt to implement within three months, ‘Facebook really is finished’: Tech giant hires Nick Clegg as head of global affairs, ‘It certainly looks like’ Khashoggi is dead, consequences will be ‘severe’ – Trump, Millions of porn videos will still be available for child consumption in new UK rules, Mussolini’s granddaughter threatens to report people offending fascist leader, causes Twitter storm, Russia surpassed rivals with precise hypersonic weapons & will deploy more within months – Putin, Is Salvini the new Juncker? And Washington is not a bystander in that conflict. "Russia must stop providing deadly weapons under cover of night to its proxies in eastern Ukraine," the US embassy said on Twitter. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh explains how the battle could escalate. And the US further riled the Kremlin earlier this year, when it delivered Javelin antitank weapons to Ukraine to step up the country's military capability. At any rate, it would not be wise to treat the poll results as an indication of what the US administration intends to do with war and peace in the near future. After a #nuclear holocaust, we’ll go to heaven as martyrs; those who nuked us will go to hell – #Putinhttps://t.co/z16nTO0nmupic.twitter.com/kZq3OP6ufm. The training, the equipment, the troop rotations, the supplies -- all of this comes directly from Russia.". It seems that in this case the order was to add fuel to the fire, but no more than that. Russian officers are embedded through the chain of command down to the company level. I think in 15 years – it's not inevitable – but it is a very strong likelihood that we will be at war with China. On Friday, the US Embassy in Kiev posted a link to images taken with a drone over eastern Ukraine by monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's special monitoring mission to Ukraine, an unarmed, civilian mission that monitors the conflict. Nearly half of US military troops believe America will be drawn into a major war next year and see Moscow and Beijing as main threats, according to a recent poll. "You have military forces that are led by active duty Russian military personnel. It must also be said that a war can't be spontaneous and preparation for warfare takes time. In a non-government controlled area of Donetsk region near the border with the Russian Federation, an SMM UAV again spotted convoys of trucks along a dirt road where there is no border crossing facility in the middle of the night. Basically, they think that the war is imminent, but they don't know what kind of war it will be. Besides, and this is true for both countries, neither Russian nor US experts are able to outline concrete military and political goals, which such a conflict would pursue, in a few brief statements. And Washington has matched strong words with a deepening military partnership with Kiev. This website uses cookies. More often than not, the results of surveys like this are known beforehand; in other words, they will be what they are ordered to be. Some have moved from challenge to conflict. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh explains how the battle could escalate. No one can point out specific economic and sociopolitical factors and reasons that could trigger a military conflict between the US and Russia. Ahead of the meeting, Kirill met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia. Eurosceptics push Italian minister as a president of European Commission, Da Vinci code cracked: Master painter easel-y created great art due to eye problem - study, Indian model found killed and dumped in travel bag in Mumbai after ‘refusing to have sex’, Kerch college shooting ‘result of globalization’, it all started in American schools – Putin, ‘Look at this f**king white guy’: Man brutally sliced in New York pizza parlor attack. The US military didn't mention the three most important things that play a major part in any war: goals, methods/ways of achieving those goals, and means. The occupation of Crimea set in motion the war in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people. Even though tensions in the Russia-US relations have significantly heightened, neither Washington nor Moscow has ever said anything about being ready to use armed forces in order to achieve military and political goals. It means that neither side is preparing for a large-scale military conflict. Against that background, Trump administration officials have been maintaining a harder line on Russia's role in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/sJ6HUmdSSr. For starters, the US maintains that Russia is the aggressor. He calls it a new kind of conflict whose core is information and the cognitive effect it produces. The Syrian civil war has become a proxy war between the US and Russia. The United States needs a very strong European pillar. The current situation in Syria proves that point because we see how Moscow and Washington do everything they can to avoid stepping on each other's toes in that region. Updated 0425 GMT (1225 HKT) October 16, 2018. Syrian attacks escalate tensions among global powers, Families bused out of chemical attack city, Exclusive: Inside Syria's demilitarized zone, Major rebel stronghold in Syria under threat, Cat 3 Florence coming in like a 'Mike Tyson punch', Syrians rebuild war-torn historic city of Homs, White Helmets evacuated into Jordan by Israel, Girl's new prosthetic legs replace tin cans, CNN goes inside refugee camp after airstrikes, Video reportedly shows airstrike in Syria. Yanukovych fled Ukraine for Russia in February 2014 after street demonstrations toppled his government. Policemen stand guard in front of the central entrance of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery on October 11.