FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Putin's positioning of nuclear warheads in Belarus or his attack on Ukraine marks a violation of the 1990 pact. He has deliberately brought not only war, but also the nuclear arms race to Europe...
There is no situation more provocative than this. Russian President Vladimir Putin is deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus just as NATO's 31 allies meet in Lithuania. This rant about his nuclear arsenal will not be the last, like many other statements since he attacked Ukraine last year. NATO cannot leave this escalation unanswered. The question is not whether to answer, but how?
The timing of the weapons delivery says it all. First in March he announced his intention to arm Belarus with Russian nuclear weapons. This month he told his pet dictator in Minsk, Alexander Lukashenko, that preparations would be completed by July 8 and that warheads would appear shortly after that date. This week, he said the first ones have already arrived. The NATO summit in Vilnius will be held on July 11-12.
Putin's intention is undoubtedly to mock a NATO meeting where he and his war of aggression will, one way or another, be the only topic. Putin is the reason NATO will raise its military spending target; will join hands with its newest member, Finland; and will embrace Sweden as the 32nd country to be part of the alliance. Putin and Lukashenko want to interrupt and destroy the show of determination and unity. Lukashenko's role in this game is small, but disgusting. Last week, he boasted that these warheads are "three times more powerful" than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and that he would not hesitate to tell Putin to use them.
This movement of heads so close to NATO is intended as an act of psychological terrorism. There has long been speculation in the West that Putin may already have nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania and thus geographically within NATO territory. Bringing atomic bombs to nearby Belarus would divert attention from this fact. All of NATO's eastern members, even those in Central Europe, would be targeted by Putin.
Putin seems to enjoy historical irony. In the 1990s - after the Cold War, when Europe and the world hoped to enter a new era - the former Soviet republics, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan voluntarily surrendered their nuclear arsenals to Russia, in the name of non-proliferation. In return, they received security guarantees from Russia, as well as the US and Great Britain. So much for Russian promises.
Putin's positioning of nuclear warheads or his attack on Ukraine marks the violation of the 1990 pact. He has deliberately brought not only war, but also the nuclear arms race to Europe. He did this, first, by threatening to use nuclear weapons; second, by suspending Russia's participation in New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington; and now moving these diabolical weapons to Belarus.
Nga ana tjetër, NATO e ka zvogëluar praninë e saj bërthamore në Evropë që nga Lufta e Ftohtë. Në fillim të viteve 1970, SHBA mbajti rreth 7000 armë bërthamore në Evropë. Në ditët e sotme, llogaritet të ketë vetëm rreth 100. Këto koka luftarake ruhen në gjashtë baza në pesë vende aleate që ishin tashmë anëtarë të NATO-s gjatë Luftës së Ftohtë - Gjermania, Belgjika, Holanda, Italia dhe Turqia. (Dy anëtarë të tjerë të NATO-s, Britania e Madhe dhe Franca, mbajnë arsenalin e tyre atomik.)
Agresioni i Putinit e bën të vjetëruar atë frenim nga aleanca perëndimore. Në Vilnius, aleatët e NATO-s tashmë kanë planifikuar të zhvendosin strategjinë e tyre konvencionale (që do të thotë jo-bërthamore) nga "hakmarrje" në "mohim". E para do të thotë se aleanca, në një dëshirë për të mos provokuar Kremlinin, deri më tani ka mbajtur shumicën e forcave të saj në prapavijë, duke kuptuar se do t'i dërgojë ato trupa vetëm nëse sulmohen aleatët e NATO-s si Estonia, Letonia ose Lituania.
Likewise, the US and its allies must also respond to Putin's nuclear provocation with the old logic. In the 1980s, NATO deployed American missiles in West Germany, not to escalate but to force Moscow to stop acting. If Putin now deploys nuclear weapons in Belarus, America should move some of its warheads to the eastern NATO countries that feel most threatened—namely, Poland and the Baltic states.
From Bucha's atrocities and mass deportations of Ukrainian children to the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Putin has brought hell to a neighboring country that did not threaten him. If there is any way to stop it, it is with iron will and, if necessary, nuclear determination. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from "Bloomberg"
Lini një Përgjigje