Yesterday Russia officially annexed Ukrainian territories it had previously attacked and devastated. The Russian justifications are false and pathetic. We all know them.
On the other hand, with this annexation, Russia opens a new era of international relations, an era of negation of the rights of nations, an era of territorial conquests. From now on, all of Russia’s neighboring countries fear an attack by Vladimir Putin. Be careful, Putin’s demonstration is not over yet. The law of the fittest on which she relies contains a nuclear dimension that she has not yet exploited. Putin’s blackmail can be summed up as follows: accept Russia’s takeover of your country or we will wage war against you, and we may even go so far as to attack you with nuclear weapons.
Why is Putin so eager to threaten to use nuclear weapons?
Three reasons urge Putin to use this armor. First, he believes that when faced with the threat of nuclear strikes, people will be afraid and resign themselves to being a part of Russia rather than dying. Second, Putin’s nuclear bombing systems appear to be superior to those of NATO. Russian cruise missiles can reach Mach 20, which makes them invulnerable, at least with known defensive armaments. NATO’s fly at more than Mach 5. Finally, and this is the most dangerous reason, Putin believes that Americans do not want to risk defending NATO countries with nuclear weapons when their own cities are threatened with nuclear destruction.
Why is Putin’s bet risky?
If the United States refuses or hesitates to defend its allies with nuclear weapons, the entire American alliance system will collapse. Also, the Americans weren’t necessarily showing the most advanced weapons at their disposal. Finally, Putin underestimates how much free people value their freedom, especially when they have known the yoke of the Soviet Union.
How does Putin justify the use of nuclear weapons?
Putin said yesterday the United States had set the precedent for using nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He forgot to mention that the Japanese were working on making atomic bombs and that this was not an invasion war. Since Putin decreed that the annexed territories were Russian, he can now invoke the protection of Russian territory to justify the use of nuclear weapons. Theoretically, however, the use of armaments can only take place in the event of an existential threat to Russia. But from where Putin is, this existential threat can be interpreted as he sees fit.
What is Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s answer?
Putin called on Ukraine to lay down arms and negotiate peace. But Zelenskyy intends to recapture the stolen Ukrainian lands. He refuses to negotiate with Putin because he doesn’t trust him, but says he’s open to talks with his successor. In addition, Zelenskyy is now formally asking NATO to include Ukraine in its alliance.
Could Ukraine join NATO?
Ukraine will not become a member of NATO any time soon. Admission of Ukraine to NATO would mean that NATO would go into open war with Russia. However, NATO’s position could change very quickly if Putin made the very grave mistake of bombing Ukraine with nuclear weapons. However, rapprochement between Ukraine and NATO should continue.
