At the battle of Stirling Bridge, 11 September 1297, the movie Braveheart has William Wallace provoking the English to battle, saying "Here are Scotland's terms. Lower your flags, and march straight back to England, stopping at every home to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today. ... Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own ass."
Putin's Nuclear Crisis - April 2024
Threats about the use of nuclear weapons from the Kremlin have been heard since the beginning of the full-scale war. This is cynically called “protection of Russian interests.”
Drone attacks on a Russian radar site may have crossed one of Moscow's red lines for potential nuclear weapon use—the "disruption of the response actions of nuclear forces," per the wording of a Kremlin decree signed by President Vladimir Putin in 2020. Ukrainian drones reportedly targeted the 590th separate radio engineering center of military unit 84680 in the city of Kovilkino on Wednesday morning and on April 11. Kovilkino is in the Mordovia Republic, some 360 miles from the Ukrainian border. The UN Security Council failed 24 April 2024 to adopt its first-ever resolution on outer space — one that would have affirmed the obligation of all States parties to fully comply with the Outer Space Treaty, including not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner. Had it been adopted, the resolution would have also emphasized the necessity of further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, with appropriate and effective provisions for verification, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects.
Introducing the draft text, also on behalf of Japan, the representative of the United States said: “There should be no doubt that placing a nuclear weapon into orbit would be unprecedented, unacceptable and deeply dangerous.” Thus, the resolution should not be controversial, she added, highlighting that the text allows the international community to address current and emerging threats to help ensure that countries will not deploy nuclear weapons around Earth and pose a grave threat to international peace and security. Her delegation and that of Japan have gone to great lengths to forge consensus, she said, thanking the 62 cross-regional co-sponsors who have joined in support.
The representative of the Russian Federation, noting that the Council is again involved in “a dirty spectacle prepared by the US and Japan”, said: “This is a cynical ploy. We are being tricked.” Recalling that the ban on placing weapons of mass destruction in outer space is already enshrined in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, he said that Washington, D.C., Tokyo and their allies are “cherry-picking” weapons of mass destruction out of all other weapons, trying to “camouflage their lack of interest” in outer space being free from any kinds of weapons. The addition of the operative paragraph proposed by the Russian Federation and China does not delete from the draft resolution a call not to develop weapons of mass destruction and not to place them in outer space, he emphasized.
The representative of the Russian Federation said the only reason Washington, D.C., introduced this amendment is to tarnish the Russian Federation. Addressing the United States’ delegate and highlighting the thrust of the proposed amendment, he asked: “If the United States is really so much in favour of using outer space for peaceful purposes, why did you vote against our amendment calling for a ban on weapons of any kind being placed in space, not just weapons of mass destruction?”
Echoing that sentiment, China’s representative said that if the United States and Japan were truly committed to advancing the Council’s constructive deliberations on outer space security, then they unequivocally stand for the prohibition of the placement of all types of weapons, including nuclear weapons in outer space. The draft resolution is incomplete and unbalanced and does not fully reflect the common interest of 193 Member States, he said, explaining his abstention.
By a vote of 13 in favour to 1 against (Russian Federation), with 1 abstention (China), the Council then rejected the draft resolution, owing to the negative vote cast by a permanent member.
Authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka said April 25, 2024 that "several dozen Russian nuclear weapons" were deployed in Belarus, a move that has raised concerns in the West that Moscow's war against Ukraine could spread. Speaking at the All-Belarusian People's Assembly in Minsk that was broadcast live on YouTube on April 25, Lukashenka, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the gathering had unanimously adopted a new military doctrine that considers the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil as a strategic deterrent.
Belarus has provided logistical support to Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, Moscow has moved tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus -- the first relocation of such warheads outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. NATO has called the move "dangerous and irresponsible."
Lukashenka said it was "a mistake" that all strategic nuclear weapons were removed from Belarus after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and that Russia's tactical nuclear weapons "must" stay in Belarus. He added, however, that Belarusian independence must be preserved "no matter what." Lukashenka often talks up the dangers of an attack by NATO or Ukraine as the reason his country needs to keep its military in a constant state of high alert.
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