Articles On Information: President Vladimir Putin’s Dangerous Moves

President Vladimir Putin’s Dangerous Moves

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President
 Vladimir Putin of Russia has added new, chilling nuclear threats to his
 aggression in Ukraine, where 6,000 people have been killed in a war 
with Russian-backed separatists. Mr. Putin wants to expand his country’s
 influence and standing, but his alarming behavior has estranged Russia 
from most other major powers, damaged its economy and narrowed its 
future options.</div>
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Even
 for Mr. Putin, the recent nuclear threats have set a new benchmark for 
hostility in the conflict he has ignited with the West. Two weeks ago, 
The Times of London <a href="http://news.err.ee/v/International/cbe4d3fa-960c-4331-8b4f-2fec20ac70d5">reported</a>
 on a meeting between Russian generals and American officials in which 
the Russians threatened a “spectrum of responses from nuclear to 
non-military” if NATO moved more military forces into the Baltic States.</div>
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Last month, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/22/us-denmark-russia-idUSKBN0MI0ML20150322" title="reuters">Mikhail Vanin</a>,
 warned that Danish warships “will be targets for Russia’s nuclear 
weapons” if Denmark follows through on its expressed interest in joining
 NATO’s missile defense system.<br />
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<a href="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Vladimir Putin" data-mediaviewer-credit="Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/16/opinion/16thu1web/16thu1web-superJumbo.jpg" height="278" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/16/opinion/16thu1web/16thu1web-master315.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/16/opinion/16thu1web/16thu1web-master315.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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                <span class="caption-text">Vladimir Putin</span>
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            <span class="visually-hidden">Credit</span>
            Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti        </span>
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And in remarks aired on March 15, Mr.<a href="http://time.com/3745522/vladimir-putin-russia-nukes-crimea-ukraine/" title="time"> Putin</a>
 said he was ready to bring nuclear weapons into a state of alert last 
year when Russia was in the process of invading and annexing Crimea. 
Some Russian officials have also hinted at the possibility of 
reintroducing nuclear weapons to Crimea, which has been free of them for
 two decades.</div>
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American
 officials say they have seen no evidence that Russia has actually begun
 to reposition or make ready a nuclear arsenal that still contains 
thousands of weapons. But even if the Russian threats are loose talk to 
intimidate adversaries or curry favor with nationalists at home, they 
reflect a cynical disregard for Russia’s post-Cold War role as a partner
 with America in arms control treaties designed to discourage the spread
 of nuclear weapons. These threats inevitably raise tensions and could 
increase the chances of deadly miscalculations.</div>
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Mr.
 Putin has crossed other lines, including sending military aircraft 
unannounced into international airspace over Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia,
 Poland and the North Sea. On April 7, a Russian fighter jet intercepted
 an American spy plane over the Baltic Sea north of Poland; the Pentagon
 complained the Russians acted in an “unsafe and unprofessional manner.”</div>
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There
 have been scores of similar episodes over the past year as NATO 
increased its air patrols in response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea.</div>
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The Russian leader’s decision to proceed with the long-delayed sale
 of an S-300 missile defense system to Iran was another bad choice. 
Experts say the system does not threaten Israel, which has nuclear 
weapons and the best military arsenal in the Middle East, but the move 
could make it harder for the Obama administration to get congressional 
support for a nuclear agreement with Iran.</div>
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Mr.
 Putin’s aggression is rooted in intense nationalism, which plays very 
well to his people and fuels the war against Ukraine. Despite a 
cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk in February, Russia has continued 
to arm, train and direct separatist rebels. Fighting has<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32296796" title="bbc"> surged</a> and there are grave concerns that Mr. Putin is planning an offensive to seize more territory in eastern Ukraine.</div>
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Russia’s
 bellicose behavior is a serious test for NATO, which has sometimes 
shown disturbing divisions. The Europeans and the United States have to 
stay united in maintaining sanctions on Russia and in continuing air 
patrols and training exercises, as it becomes increasingly difficult to 
predict Mr. Putin’s next move.</div>
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