Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile is displayed during a Victory Day parade rehearsal on April 24, 2009 in Alabino, outside Moscow, Russia. (Dmitry Korotayev/Epsilon/Getty Images)

Russian Lawmaker Says Americans Should Vote Trump or Risk Nuclear War

By Jack Phillips

Updated: October 13, 2016

An ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin issued a warning of sorts to Americans regarding next month’s presidential election, urging them to vote for Republican Donald Trump or risk starting a nuclear war.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a legislator, who has been described as an ultra-nationalist ally of Putin known for his bold claims, told the Reuters news agency that Trump would be able to reduce tensions between the United States and Russia—amid disagreements and veiled threats lodged by both countries amid the war in Syria.

Zhirinovsky, who often makes outlandish claims and isn’t considered credible by a number of Russians, said Hillary Clinton could spark World War III. According to Reuters, he is used to float radical opinions to test the public’s reaction, as he is considered a stalwart political insider who has sat in the Duma for two decades. For example, he called on the Kremlin to arm the Russian population to shoot down migrant birds to prevent bird flu from spreading. And following the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, he said it was “not meteors falling” but “it’s the test of a new weapon by the Americans.”

This week, speaking in his office, he told Reuters: “Relations between Russia and the United States can’t get any worse. The only way they can get worse is if a war starts.”

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, “el Trump ruso” cuyo partido de ultraderecha avanza con fuerza en Rusia https://t.co/oRhOPf6eFP pic.twitter.com/Zn2nRJVhGj

— 24 Horas (@24HorasTVN) September 20, 2016

“Americans voting for a president on Nov. 8 must realize that they are voting for peace on Planet Earth if they vote for Trump. But if they vote for Hillary it’s war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere,” he said.

Clinton, he added, “craves power. Her view is that Hillary is the most important person on the planet, that America is an exceptional country, as Barack Obama said,” reported Reuters. “That’s dangerous. She could start a nuclear war.”

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