Peter Dutton on the Prospects of Nuclear Conflict By James Reed

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton is surely right in rejecting the Ukrainian president’s call for a no-fly zone to be enforced by NATO, which Russia will take as an act of war, with the possibility of a nuclear conflict. Dutton said that Australia and the West would consider supplying weapons to Taiwan, if communist China invades Taiwan. A good quote from Dutton: “We want peace to prevail in our region but you don’t have that peace if you’re arguing from a position of weakness.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/russias-invasion-of-ukraine-live-updates-vladimir-putin-promises-wider-war-from-nofly-zone/live-coverage/2611f98869b488eb7cfc1b9aeea5962f?utm_source=TheAustralian&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=TATodaysHeadlinesSubPM

“Responding to calls to the Ukrainian government for a no fly-zone to be enforced by Western allies to stop Russian air strikes, Defence Minister Peter Dutton says such a move could lead to nuclear conflict.

Mr Dutton also says Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “bring back a reunited USSR” and that the Ukraine invasion could be just a first step in that goal.

“It (a no-fly zone) would definitely help if it didn’t lead to a nuclear conflict, that’s clearly what everyone within NATO, the United States, every peace-loving country around the world would seek,” Mr Dutton said on Insiders on Sunday.

“The difficulty here is if you provide more support and surge with troops … or you allow planes to be staged out of Poland or somewhere else, what is the next step and what is Putin’s next play?’’ Mr Dutton said.

“He is holding out slightly veiled language, the threat of stepping up a nuclear conflict and that would be really catastrophic for Europe and the world.”

It comes as Mr Putin warned any imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine by Western powers would be “considered by us as participation in an armed conflict”.

Mr Dutton said Australia would continue “providing support” to Ukraine in the hope of defeating the Russian forces and “have them turn back and go back to their own country and allow peace”.

“Our desire is to see the Ukrainians exact a very significant cost on Russians both in terms of reputation and their so-called military might,” he said.

But he said there was “a sense of inevitability” for Russia to ratchet up its attacks in Ukraine.

“When you look at the sheer numbers and also the propensity for Putin to use chemical weapons or other weapons which would be used in a residential area, you just can’t imagine it, it would be a war crime,” he said.

Mr Dutton said there was the hope Australia could bring similar pressure from the Western world to bear on China if it behaved similarly to Russia and invaded Taiwan and would not rule out arming Taiwan in a similar way to Ukraine.

“We want peace to prevail in our region but you don’t have that peace if you’re arguing from a position of weakness,” he said.”