Recently, opinions have been issued (partly by members of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, SVOP), which, albeit with many reservations, promote the idea of a pre-emptive nuclear attack by Russia in the event of negative developments in military operations in Ukraine and the adjacent areas. Those who made such statements not only speculate about the use of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine, but also suggest attacking the founding members of NATO.
We are all aware of the data from previous and current studies that demonstrate the magnitude of the possible consequences of nuclear war. It is utterly irresponsible to rely on the hope that a small nuclear conflict can be managed to prevent it from escalating into a global nuclear war. That means tens – or even hundreds – of millions of lives are at risk in Russia, Europe, China, the United States and other parts of the world. It is a threat to all of humanity.
Our country devastated by this catastrophe and our people devastated by this war would also risk losing their sovereignty under the pressure of the surviving nations in the South.
It is unacceptable that pseudo-theoretical rhetoric and emotional statements in the style of so-called talk shows arouse feelings in society that can lead to disastrous decisions.
These are no longer abstract concepts. This is not only a threat to all of humanity, but also a very specific proposition to kill all the people we love and care about.
We, the members of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council, find such statements absolutely unacceptable and strongly condemn them.
No one should ever blackmail humanity with the threat of attack with nuclear weapons, let alone order them to be used in combat.
We invite all members of the SVOP to sign this declaration.
List of SVOP members who signed the declaration:
Anatoly Adamishin, President of the Association for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation (former First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Director of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation); PhD
Alexey Arbatov, Director of the Center for International Security at the Primakov Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (Imemo); Academics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Nadezhda Arbatova, Research Program Director at the European Dialogues Debate Forum; Head of the Department of European Policy Studies (Deps)t at Imemo; PhD
alexander belkin, Director of International Projects of the Swap (former Deputy Undersecretary of the State Committee on Defense and Security; Deputy Executive Director of the Swap)
Veronika Borovik KhiltchevskayaChairman of the Sovershenno Sekretno Publishing Group.
Georgy Bovt, director of the Russky Mir.ru magazine; PhD
Vladimir Dvorkin, Principal Investigator at Imemo, Russian Academy of Sciences; Professor, Ph.D.; Major General (retired).
Sergei Dubinin, Head of the Finance and Credit Department of the National Research University – Higher School of Economics (HSE) (former Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia); PhD
Vitaly DymarskyDirector of the history magazine Diletant.
Vladimir Entin, Director of the Center for Legal Protection of Intellectual Property; Assistant Professor at the Journalism School of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Assistant Professor in the Advocacy Department of MGIMO University; PhD
Alexander GoltsSenior Deputy Editor of the online magazine “Ezhednevny Journal”.
Vladimir GurevichDirector of Vremya Publishing House.
Sviatoslav Kaspe, Professor in the Department of General Political Science, HSE School of Policy and Governance; President of the editorial board of the journal of political theory, political philosophy and political sociology Politeia; Mediator at the Politeia Research Seminar named after Aleksei Salmin.
Lev KoshlyakovSwap member (former deputy director of the Russian Broadcasting and Telecommunications Society).
Ilya Lomakin-Rumyantsev, Chairman of the Board of VLM-Invest, agency for the promotion of the development of economic institutions; Director of the Rosgosstrakh Expert Council; PhD
Vladimir Lukin, Professor at HSE; Member of the Supervisory Committee of the International Luxembourg Forum (former Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Relations of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Council (Senate of Russia); Chairman of the Russian Paralympic Committee; Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma; Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States of America; Commissioner on Human Rights of the Russian Federation); PhD
Sergey MndoyantsRussian Center for Social and Economic Promotion (ex
President of the Foundation for the Development of Parliamentarism); PhD
Arkady MurashovPresident of Eppa – European Consultants.
Alexander Muzykantsky, Head of the Division of Foreign Policy Intelligence Support, School of World Politics at LMSU, Professor; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Center for Social and Economic Promotion; PhD
Sergey Oznobishchev, Head of IMEMO’s Department of Military and Political Analysis; Director of the Institute for Strategic Evaluations; Professor at MGIMO University; PhD
Vladimir Rubanov, Supervisor at the Inteltek Center for Information Technology and Innovations; Member of the Collective Operating Committee of the Skolkovo Foundation, Member of the Public Council of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation; Supervisor at Informexpertiza; Vice-President of the League in Support of Advocacy Companies of Russia (former Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council).
Dmitri RyurikovAmbassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation (former Foreign Policy Adviser to the President of Russia).
Evgeny Savistyanov, Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Navtika; Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for Promoting Rapprochement between Russia and America (former Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of Russia); PhD
Sergey Tsyplyaev, Plenipotentiary Representative of St. Petersburg University of Technology and Management Economics; President of the Respublika Foundation, St. Petersburg); PhD
Alexander VysotskyCorporate Relations Director at Yandex Go.
Igor Jurgens, Principal Investigator at the Center for Sustainable Development, Professor in the Department of Risk Management and Insurance at MGIMO University; Professor at HSE; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Contemporary Development; PhD
Alexander SakharovVice President of Eurofinansy Investment Company.
Pavel Zolotarev, Deputy Director of the Institute of US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS); Chairman of the Military Reform Support Foundation; Major General (retired).
(Translation by Marzia Porta)