Mutually assured destruction is the idea that a nuclear war between nations would mean the end of nearly all life on planet Earth, and it is believed that this will be the outcome of the next world war.

Throughout the invasion of Ukraine and the war that has come as a result, the fear of nuclear war has been fearfully on many people’s minds. Vladimir Putin, the Russian President since 1999 when he was promoted from prime minister to President, has been attempting—through illegal annexations— to reassemble the fallen USSR or the Soviet Union.

The invasions that President Putin is calling efforts to preserve Russian sovereignty have been condemned by nearly all countries across the globe, but not all. The most notable of the countries that have not spoken out against Russia’s actions are China and North Korea.

Most recently, North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, have agreed to meet with President Putin in Russia to begin negotiations for the trade of weaponry. Russia has requested anti-tank missiles and artillery shells in exchange for Russian nuclear-armed submarines and satellites. While this is obviously incredibly worrying considering that Russia is believed to have the strongest nuclear arsenal in the world, if this deal happens, these missiles will be in the hands of the tyrant who has been incredibly outspoken for the bombing of major U.S. cities, including videos made by the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea depicting the destruction of Florida.

The U.S. government was quick to react to this in hopes of stopping this deal from happening, saying “We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia.” This is a statement made while walking on eggshells. North Korea and Russia have both proven themselves to be the world’s most dangerous children on the global stage and while the United States recognizes that something must absolutely be done about their actions, there’s no easy way to put a stop to it.

The entire war in Ukraine shows this to be the case, with the United States sending machinery and ammunition to our ally while lacking boots on the ground. The U.S. must continue to monitor the happenings of every country involved in this conflict, as well as those not involved in order to protect the very existence of humanity.

Similarly, China, another country that is outspoken against the United States, has been providing dual-use technology, but as of right now, they have not provided Russia with any sort of weaponry or drone technology and have been warned not to provide arms to Russia.

On a similar note, it is apparent that China will not send President Xi Jinping to the G20 Summit that is happening in India later this month due to border disputes between the two countries, following this announcement up by stating that the east is rising and the west is falling. This is a fantastic scapegoat for the real reason that China will not be represented at this summit, which is that they are attempting to steer away from any sort of questioning or suspicion regarding their involvement with the Russian government and supplying the genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Now, I don’t believe there is much that the United States can do besides warning the countries involving themselves with the Russian tyranny. However, everyone deserves to know what is happening around the world, especially when our lives have the possibility of being in imminent danger due to the foolishness of leaders across the globe.

War is simply never the answer, point blank period. The United States has led enough pointless escapades overseas with the intention of “spreading the virtues of democracy” to know this and to dissuade the countries doing so currently, because at the end of the day this is Russia’s Vietnam War.

History does not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme and this happens to be an instance of that. We have seen this before, war never changes. Harry Patch, a World War One veteran who served in the trenches once said, “give your leaders each a gun and let them fight it out themselves.”

War is nothing but a tool used by our leaders who swear to protect us to organize the murder of millions of innocent people due to their own disagreements.

Jackson Small is an opinion writer. Contact him at [email protected].