information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
18 Mars 2015
March 17, 2015
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20150317p2a00m0na013000c.html
In a shocking statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that when Russia unilaterally annexed the Crimean peninsula on March 18 last year, he had been prepared to put Russia's nuclear arsenal to a state of alert to ward off any action by the United States or NATO forces.
To mark the one year anniversary since Russia announced the annexation, Russian state-run media broadcast a documentary that it produced on March 15. In an interview featured in the documentary, Putin stated that he had ordered troops to be prepared to deal with "all possible situations." Asked if that meant he had been prepared to put the country's nuclear arsenal on alert, he replied that that indeed was the case.
It is believed that through such statements, Putin intended to show a firm stand against Western criticism of Russia's annexation of Crimea, and to garner support from Russians by demonstrating that he was a strong leader. Another reason he hinted at the possibility of using nuclear weapons was probably to keep the U.S. and European countries from taking any hostile action. In effect, it was a threat.
As the West and Russia bump heads over Ukraine, statements like those given by Putin put the crisis at risk of escalation. Russia is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and such statements from the leader of a country that has grave responsibilities in world security are unforgivable.
The annexation of Crimea constituted a unilateral change in national borders through military force. Even if the act had the support of local residents, it trampled on Ukraine's sovereignty and violated international laws. This is why countries in the West and Japan have imposed economic sanctions against Russia and demanded a change in Russia's policies toward Ukraine. Russia, however, has taken an increasingly hardline stance.
At a gathering with students last August, Putin stated that Russia was a nuclear giant -- a remark that could be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate the West. On March 11, a senior official at the Russian foreign ministry said that Russia has the right to deploy nuclear weapons to Crimea. Putin's statement became public soon afterward.
Russia needs to realize how dangerous and risky it is to so blatantly show off its nuclear arsenal. As the status of the U.S. as the world's only superpower crumbles and China flexes its military muscles, international order has grown more and more unstable. What we need in the face of conflict is not for countries to needlessly incite further tension, but to make constructive efforts to overcome it.
The 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will take place next month. Non-nuclear states are not going to go easy on nuclear states. At a time when the world seeks more efforts to reduce nuclear weapons, to flaunt one's nuclear edge to get what one wants is an act of betrayal against the international community.
March 17, 2015(Mainichi Japan)