Donald Trump’s son says he wants to start World War III before his father takes office in January. About this, Major General Isidro de Morais Pereira reacted like this on CNN Portugal: “World War 3? It makes you want to laugh. It must be for young children to believe in this type of narrative”
“Since World War II, we have not been in a situation of this gravity from the point of view of international peace and security.” For CNN Portugal commentator José Azeredo Lopes, the war in Ukraine is now entering the “most dangerous phase”, in which it will be decided “whether we go to the end with all this or whether we start to get closer to the end of the conflict”.
“The matter is serious”, warn experts consulted by CNN Portugal, considering that it is not a case to talk about a 3rd World War. “To be a world war, the conflict would have to go beyond the borders between Russia and Ukraine”, argues Francisco Pereira Coutinho, a specialist in European and international law, pointing out, as an example, the outbreak of a conflict in Taiwan related to this. “Which, in fact, we don’t have, nor is there any risk of us ever having.”
The first to speak recently about the outbreak of the 3rd World War were the Republicans, during the US presidential election campaign. Donald Trump accused the Democrats of doing everything to provoke a world war – an argument that the Republican’s son used again a few days ago, as soon as it became known that Joe Biden authorized the use of US long-range weapons for Ukrainian attacks in Russian soil.
“The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to guarantee the start of World War III before my father has the chance to create peace and save lives,” wrote Donald Trump Jr. on his official account on the X social network.
“World War 3? It makes you want to laugh. It must be for young children to believe in this type of narrative”, in a comment on CNN Portugal.
The truth is that we are now facing “an escalation of the conflict” which, according to Francisco Pereira Coutinho, “was provoked by Russia, by bringing North Koreans to fight in Europe”, which triggered the “internationalization of the conflict”. After Joe Biden’s decision, Vladimir Putin .
Sinister and dangerous, “I don’t feel like laughing”
For José Azeredo Lopes, just the fact of considering “the hypothesis of a nuclear war is, in itself, a sinister and very dangerous discussion”. “Far more dangerous than at any time since World War II.”
The fact is that, regardless of nuclear deterrence treaties, the truth is that “the use of nuclear weapons is a possibility for nuclear powers”, says the CNN Portugal commentator, pointing out that, just like Russia, “NATO also reserves the right to resort to nuclear weapons” if “the existence of one or more States” that make up the Alliance is at stake. And it is with this “apparent paradox” of nuclear deterrence that we now find ourselves in “the most dangerous situation that can exist”, says Azeredo Lopes.
“Honestly, without ever wanting to make fun of an issue like this, because I think it is too serious for that, I consider that, in the current situation, we are not yet at a level where Russia can even admit the possibility of using nuclear weapons ”, says José Azeredo Lopes. “But at the same time I know that never, like since the Second World War, have we been in a situation of this gravity from the point of view of international peace and security”, he counters.
This is because “Russia and the USA are, by far, the main nuclear powers in the world”, highlights José Azeredo Lopes. “Each of them has well over a thousand nuclear warheads. Each nuclear warhead is much more powerful than the bombs that attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And therefore, I honestly don’t feel like laughing.”
