Soviet Union 1991

Fourth update

With the tacit approval of the Romanian Ministry of Defense, the Su-17m4 formation happened to pass through Romanian airspace. The Su-17m4 formation, which was originally planning to land at the military airport, received a temporary order from the headquarters to return to Ukraine immediately and was not allowed to stay in Romania. . ★

Of course, the Su-17m4 formation obeyed the orders issued by the high command. They crossed the Romanian border airspace and headed towards Ukraine. Although they didn't know what was happening, they had a premonition that something unusual was happening.

President Mario said nonchalantly, "Similarly, we will never let a screw of a Soviet long-range missile be transported into Romania. General Secretary Yanayev had better understand this. It disrupts the European strategic balance and is not good for anyone." . And fifteen minutes ago, our high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft detected a group of Su-17m4 fighter jets entering Romanian airspace. Can you explain to me what this means?"

Yanayev's contest is not just a phone call, it has become their battlefield throughout Eastern Europe, and the contest continues.

"So President Mario, can you explain what your high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft is doing in Romanian airspace? Or he is very lucky, because Romania's old Sam-2 missiles cannot hit high-altitude targets, but they are replaced with the latest ground-to-surface missiles Can you still be so calm and calm after the missile attack?"

Primakov felt frightened as he sat listening to Yanayev talking on the phone, like two chess players in a game, and everyone in the country was their pawn. Obviously Primakov did not expect that the Soviet Union would actually send a formation of Su-17m4 fighter jets to fly over Romania. Such a dangerous script was completely different from what was originally agreed.

But Yanayev stopped Primakov from speaking with just one look. He put his index finger on Primakov's lips, signaling the other party not to speak. Primakov nodded very knowingly and fell into silence again. The only thing he can do now is to believe that Yanayev can win this negotiation and contest.

"I'll give you two choices, General Secretary Yanayev. One is to give up the idea of ​​deploying missile bases in Romania, withdraw all the Soviet Union from Romania, and return to Ukraine. We can choose to forget about the past. The other is that you continue to be obsessed with it and eventually lead to A brutal conflict in Eastern Europe.”

"If I follow what President Mario said, I should choose the second option." Yanayev said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "In that case, I will give President Mario a choice, or you will terminate it. The way we build an anti-missile system will lead to a European conflict now.”

"It seems that the negotiations have failed." President Mario hopes that Yanayev will make concessions, while Yanayev hopes that President Mario can take a step back so that the Romanian missile crisis will not turn into a diplomatic fiasco.

Primakov, who was on the sidelines, finally couldn't stand it anymore. He said to Yanayev, "To be honest, General Secretary Yanayev, maybe we should take a step back first so that the United States can take the stage. I think The subsequent negotiations will be much easier. Besides, as long as we can get them to talk at the negotiating table, our hope of deploying an anti-missile system in Romania will be lost.”

But Yanayev just made a silent gesture, prohibiting Primakov from saying another word. This was a contest between him and Mario. Yanayev knew best how to push the opponent to the edge. At what point is enough enough? So he continued to corner the person on the other end of the line, trying to lead him into a dead end.

Primakov didn't know that Yanayev's palms were already wet from nervousness. He calmed down his breathing, trying to give Mario the illusion that Yanayev didn't care about the outcome of the negotiation. , some even expect the negotiations to collapse.

William Perry leaned close to President Mario's ear and said, "The Soviet Union's current purpose is very clear, which is to ask us to withdraw from the anti-missile system cooperation project with Romania. Why doesn't the United States take a step back? Even if Romania now declares itself Without getting involved with the Soviet Union, it would be difficult to guarantee the other party’s loyalty.”

"With all due respect, President Mario. What if this is just a trap carefully designed by Yanayev? In fact, the ultimate goal is just to obtain key data of the anti-missile system deployed in Romania, so as to crack our anti-missile technology. In this case, can we still feel confident about Constantinescu? By then, the Soviet Union may have mastered our anti-missile technology and developed anti-missile system weapons, while Europe is still complacent.”

William Perry's words woke Mario up. He had not thought of this level. If it is true as the Secretary of Defense said, then the United States is in a dangerous situation.

"What should we do now?" President Mario replied quietly.

"Tell Yanayev that we are willing to give up the deployment of anti-missile systems in Romania. However, all Soviet forces must withdraw from Romania. They are not allowed to assist missiles, are not allowed to sell fighter jets, and are not even allowed to leave any missile military experts in Romania."

"good."

President Mario told Yanaev exactly what William Perry said, "We can take a step back and terminate the anti-missile project with Romania, but we also have our own requirements. The Soviet forces must withdraw from Romania, no missile assistance, no fighter jets, and no missile military experts are allowed to stay in Romania. This is the last bottom line of the United States. If General Secretary Yanaev still refuses to give in, then the problem can only be solved through war."

Yanaev's tense nerves completely relaxed after William Perry said this, but he did not speak, which put an invisible pressure on Mario, making him mistakenly think that the other party was still considering his request.

"General Secretary Yanaev?" President Mario asked again.

"I can agree to President Mario's request, but I need a guarantee that you will not get involved in this place in a secret way after withdrawing from Romania."

"What kind of guarantee do you want?" President Mario asked.

"Political promises, both verbal and literal, are empty. As long as the United States does not allow Soviet satellites to capture any of your movements in Romania, we will come back." Yanayev threatened.

"This time it is a verbal warning of goodwill, and the next time will be the return of the Iron Curtain." (To be continued.)8