Democrats prepare draft law on military deterrence of Russia

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

A group of 23 House Armed Services Committee Democrats said on June 22 that they have submitted another draft law on military deterrence of Russia.

The bill on "strengthening unity against Russian aggression" suggests that the Pentagon should develop a "full-scale strategy to counteract Russia", RIA Novosti reported

The alleged violations by Russia of the Treaty on the Ban on Intermediate and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty) are mentioned among other claims. Moscow denies these accusations. The authors of the bill propose to develop a plan on sanctions against Moscow on the INF Treaty, but do not reveal which sanctions may be used.

The authors of the bill require the Pentagon to develop a plan for the deployment of precision weapons in Europe" in order to strengthen the deterrence of Russia with conventional weapons."

In addition, the Pentagon is expected to be obliged to assess the cost of deploying additional U.S. military contingent in Europe on an ongoing basis.

Moreover, the democrats demand to develop the plan to combat the modernization of the Russian Armed Forces, including in particular such military potential as drones, electronic means of combat and high-precision long-range weapons. It is also proposed to speed up the programs that will allow the U.S. Armed Forces to operate under the conditions of jamming the GPS signal.

They plan to oblige the Pentagon to fight "non-traditional methods of warfare" and "Russian propaganda" and to strengthen cyber security.

Finally, the authors of the bill emphasize the need for the speedy adoption of additional high-speed submarines to restrain Russia in the sea.

At the same time, the democrats admit that confrontation can lead to incorrect calculations, which threatens to turn into a clash with Russia, up to a nuclear war, and want to reduce this danger.

"The bill supports the U.S. interest in strategic stability, demanding in parallel to draw up a plan to reduce the risks of incorrect calculations and undesirable consequences that could lead to a nuclear war," a press release from the Democrats said.

Prospects for adopting the law are unclear. Representatives of the Republican Party, which controls both chambers of the congress, did not take part in drafting the law.