プーチン発言 「核準備」の恫喝は認められぬ

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Putin’s allusion to being prepared to use nuclear arms is intolerable
プーチン発言　「核準備」の恫喝は認められぬ

It was a threat in which an allusion was made over the use of nuclear weapons. His remarks, made as a leader of a nuclear power, were extremely inappropriate and irresponsible.
　核兵器に言及した威嚇である。核大国の指導者として極めて不穏当、無責任と言うほかない。

Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “We were ready to do it,” when asked if Russia was prepared to put its nuclear forces on alert over the country’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula last March.
　昨年３月のロシアによるウクライナのクリミア半島編入の経緯を巡り、プーチン露大統領が、核戦力を臨戦態勢に置くことについて「そうする用意があった」と発言した。

However, he defended himself by saying he believed the Crimea crisis would not evolve into a situation where Russia’s nuclear forces would actually be put into a state of combat readiness.
　一方で、クリミアの事態が核の臨戦態勢には発展しないと考えていた、とも弁明している。

Nonetheless, his remarks contain extremely serious elements and must not be ignored.
　それでも、発言は重大な問題を含んでおり、看過できない。

Under the basic guidelines governing its use of nuclear weapons, Russia will use nuclear weapons only in response to an all-out attack by weapons of mass destruction or if the existence of the Russian Federation is threatened.
　ロシアの核兵器運用の基本指針は、核の使用を、大量破壊兵器などの攻撃を受けた場合と、国家の存続が脅かされた場合に限る。

Around the time Russia annexed Crimea, it was not expected that the country would have to fight for its survival. Thus, Putin’s remarks made a mockery of these guidelines.
クリミア編入時にロシアが存続の危機に陥ることは想定されず、発言は基本指針を軽視している。

A senior official of the Russian Foreign Ministry said, “Russia, in principle, reserves the right to deploy its nuclear arsenal in Crimea.”
　露外務省高官は、「ロシアはクリミアに核を配備する権利を原則として持つ」とまで語った。

The series of remarks by Putin are construed as an attempt by Russia to make its control of Crimea a fait accompli by intimidating the United States and European countries to forestall any intervention.
　一連の発言には、米欧を恫喝どうかつし、その干渉を排することにより、クリミア支配の既成事実化を図る狙いがうかがえる。

Russia’s wisdom must be called into question. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the country is responsible for maintaining world peace.
　世界の平和に責任を持つべき国連安全保障理事会の常任理事国としての見識が疑われよう。

Running counter to NPT

A U.S. State Department spokeswoman criticized Putin’s remarks, saying the Russian president has admitted to the whole world that Russian troops not only intervened in Crimea but also were ready to take more aggressive action. Her criticism cannot be faulted.
　米国務省報道官は、プーチン発言について「ロシア軍によるクリミア介入にとどまらず、もっと攻撃的な行動を取る用意すらあったと世界中に公言したことになる」と批判した。当然だろう。

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty calls on signatory countries, including Russia, not to threaten the territorial integrity of other nations with the use of force. It is obvious that Putin’s latest remarks run counter to the spirit of this international treaty.
　核拡散防止条約（ＮＰＴ）は、ロシアを含む加盟国に、他国の領土保全を武力で脅かさないよう求めている。今回の発言がＮＰＴの精神にも反するのは明らかだ。

What is of great concern is that Russia over the past few years has built up its nuclear capability. This also runs against the international trend of nuclear disarmament in the post-Cold War era, a trend symbolized by the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by the United States and Russia.
　懸念されるのは、ロシアがここ数年、核戦力を増強していることだ。米露の中距離核戦力（ＩＮＦ）全廃条約など、冷戦後の核軍縮の流れに逆行する。

In his latest remarks, Putin said, “We never thought about severing Crimea from Ukraine until the moment that these events began [with the Ukraine] government overthrow.” With this comment, he admitted that Russia took actions to annex Crimea immediately after Ukraine’s pro-Moscow government led by President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in February last year.
　プーチン氏は今回、「ウクライナ政変まではクリミアを奪取しようと考えていなかった」と述べた。昨年２月の親露派ウクライナ政権の崩壊直後、クリミア編入に向けて動いたことを認めたものだ。

His remarks contradicted his earlier assertion that Russia annexed Crimea because he respected the results of the referendum held last March.
　クリミア編入は「（昨年３月の）住民投票結果を尊重した」との従来の主張を覆したことになる。

It has been pointed out that Russian special forces intervened and conducted various maneuvers to have the referendum carried out in Crimea.
実際、クリミアの住民投票を実現するため、ロシア軍の特殊部隊が介入し、様々な工作活動を実施したとの指摘が出ている。

Putin, who has unilaterally been changing the status quo by force, is becoming a serious cause of uncertainty.
　一方的な「力による現状変更」を進めるプーチン氏は、重大な不安定要因となりつつある。

The international community, while financially supporting Ukraine and maintaining its pressure on Russia, must call on Putin to refrain from embarking on any more adventures through words or deeds.
　国際社会は、ウクライナを財政支援しつつ、対露圧力を維持し、プーチン氏に冒険主義的な言動の自制を促さねばならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 18, 2015)