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US Responds to Russia’s Nuclear Alert as UN Convened an Emergency Meeting

2022-02-28 , 1:37 pm

It has been approximately four days since Russia launched a large-scale invasion in Ukraine.

In the wake of missile strikes, human casualties, and damaged military infrastructure, there has been unprecedented coordination in terms of political, economic, strategic and financial sanctions coming from the West, to condemn Russia for its actions.

As a matter of fact, 87 out of 195 countries have publicly condemned Russia for its invasion.

Sanctions and Support

For the European Union (EU), a coalition of 27 countries, they have decided to supply a country at war for the first time in its history, stepping beyond economic cooperation to regionally ratified laws to send €450 million (S$683 million) of weaponry to Ukraine.

That is on top of the comprehensive package of sanctions that the EU has laid out against Russia like barring key oligarchs from Russia, stopping all financial transactions with Russian banks, shutting down Russia-run media outlets, and cutting off the natural gas pipeline that runs through the Baltic states from Germany to Russia.

British oil major BP has decided to abandon all its stakes in the state oil company Rosneft, heedless that it cost them US$25 billion (S$34 million) and shrank its own oil and gas energy reserves.

The United States (US) need not be mentioned as it was the spearhead to roll out tranches of sanctions on Russia, the first set coming into effect last Tuesday (22 Feb), and then revised on the day of the invasion itself (24 Feb).

Ever since Russo-Ukraine tensions have been mounting at the borders in late November 2021, the US has provided approximately $650 million in defensive military and equipment to Ukraine.

In the biggest move, the Western nations blocked some banks from the system of international payments, called SWIFT, which is the abbreviated form of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications.

SWIFT is vital in the global economy as a secure messaging system since it allows for rapid cross-border payments; a necessary gear and the principal mechanism to make international trade flow smoothly.

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The Effects of the Sanctions

The economy is undoubtedly crucial when it comes to sustaining a war.

With such hard-hitting sanctions coming from all sides, especially against the major banks of Russia and its unilateral expulsion from SWIFT, the Russian rouble has plummeted by roughly 20% versus the dollar on Monday (28 Feb), in the Asian market.

About $1 trillion of Russian banking assets have been kept from flowing through the markets of the US and its partners’ financial systems.

Russia’s tech exports and tech industry have already started feeling the squeeze.

Germany’s decision to suspend the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a double-edged sword that will hurt Germany as well, but cutting off the pipeline means that Russia no longer has a cheap supply of natural gases, and it halts the world’s energy dependence on Russia.

However, trade and economic sanctions tend to take a long time to see the payoff.

The faltering stock markets, the continuous deflation of ruble—all these factors will deter investment into Russia due to the lack of business confidence, if the countries that the businesses operate from haven’t banned them from interacting with Moscow already.

Plus, Russia is energy-rich and has a sizeable amount in its own reserves, so cushioning the impact for the first few years won’t be difficult for the Kremlin.

Nevertheless, the rain of ruthless sanctions definitely had an effect, as seen by how President Putin saw fit to respond shortly thereafter.

Putin’s Alarming Response to the Sanctions

Three days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and under the onslaught of sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a statement on state television which no one wished to hear.

Mr Putin said, “As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension—I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well – but also the top officials of leading NATO countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regards to our country.”

He then added, “I order the defence minister and the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces to put the deterrence forces of the Russian army into a special mode of combat service.”

This statement immediately set off alarm bells, because Mr Putin was insinuating towards the usage of nuclear weapons.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “This is another escalatory and unnecessary step that threatens us all. It means that President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable. We urge Russia to tone down this dangerous rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons.”

World history has only seen two incidents of nuclear weapon usage thus far, once in Hiroshima and another in Nagasaki.

The horrific accounts of how it melted flesh and bones upon impact, how the citizens could feel the heat wave even from miles away and witness the ballooning smog that left ashes and destruction after the smoke gradually cleared would have terrified anyone capable of emotions.

They are documented facts that no Singaporean is unaware of, especially when we’re made to visit museums and memorials at least twice throughout our 10 years of compulsory education.

Till this day, both Japanese regions are still suffering from the aftereffects of the lingering radiation, through generations of deformed infants and the tendency to suffer from cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The Call for a United Nations Emergency Meeting

Due to the terrifying “N” word being used, the United Nations (UN) Security Council called for a rare emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly, which is a gathering of 193 UN member states, which will commence today (28 Feb).

This is most likely because any attempt to form a coalition force or force Russia to withdraw from Ukraine in the UN Security Council will be immediately vetoed, since Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and thereby possesses veto powers.

Whereas the UN General Assembly might hold the last hope with Resolution 377A (V), titled “Uniting for Peace”, where a majority vote from the General Assembly is capable of circumventing the Security Council and seizing the initiative to maintain peace in the world, by using force if deemed necessary.

Whether that will come into fruition remains unknown, for Resolution 377A (V) has only been invoked by the General Assembly successfully in five instances.

But most of all, it will be a decisive meeting in terms of whether countries will take a united stance in condemning Russia via collective sanctions, as some have currently chosen to stay neutral or have chosen to abstain from commenting.

In EU Foreign Policy Chief Josef Borell’s words, in an opinion piece to The Guardian, he wrote: “It is now, more than ever, the time for societies and alliances to come together to build our future on trust, justice and freedom. It is the moment to stand up and to speak out.

“Might does not make right. Never did. Never will.”