Little Chance of War ‘In Country With 15 Nuclear Reactors’
News Commentary / Euractive with Reuters
January 26th, 2022.
Ukraine is committed to seeking a diplomatic solution to the current tension with Russia, its ambassador to Japan, Sergiy Korsunsky, said on Wednesday (26 January), adding that he saw little chance of all-out war, although there might be smaller conflicts.
Korsunsky warned an attack on a country with more than a dozen nuclear reactors would bring about a devastating regional impact on Europe. “I believe that full-scale war is very, very, very difficult to expect, but we may see more localised conflict,” Korsunsky told a news conference in the Japanese capital Tokyo.
Ukraine is committed to seeking a diplomatic solution to the current tension with Russia, its ambassador to Japan, Sergiy Korsunsky, said on Wednesday, adding that he saw little chance of all-out war, although there might be smaller conflicts.
“If war is going to happen, that will be the first ever in the history of mankind, war against a country which has on its territory 15 nuclear reactors, which has 30,000 km of gas and oil pipelines, full with gas and oil,” said Korsunsky.
“If all this infrastructure is destroyed, there is no more Ukraine. But this is just one consequence. There is no more central Europe and probably western Europe would be affected, too.”
An accident at the Chernobyl reactor, located in what is now Ukraine, spewed tonnes of nuclear waste into the atmosphere in 1986, spreading radioactivity across swathes of the continent and causing a spike in cancers in the more immediate region.
Russia’s Ambassador to Australia, Alexey Pavlovsky, said on Wednesday that Russia did not plan to invade Ukraine.
“We don’t intend to invade at all,” Pavlovsky told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
“Our troops on the border…These troops are not a threat, they are a warning. A warning to Ukraine’s rulers not to attempt any reckless military adventure,” he said.
“As to the sanctions, I think that by now everybody should understand that it is not the language which should be used when talking to Russia. The sanctions just don’t work.”
News Roundup
BRATISLAVA | PRAGUE
Even a limited conflict in Ukraine will bring tens of thousands of refugees to Slovakia, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said after the meeting of the Security Council on Tuesday. If the situation in Ukraine escalates and the worst scenario becomes a reality, Prague has offered to send police officers to the Slovak-Ukrainian border.
The new Czech government wants to help Ukraine amid the escalating situation at the borders with Russia, Defence Minister Jana Černochová (ODS, ECR) said in an interview with the daily publication Hospodářské noviny.
Černochová confirmed the Czech Republic is willing to send or sell military material to Kyiv. According to the minister, the supply of arms or ammunition to Ukraine should be coordinated with other countries, including Visegrad countries, Germany, Austria or the Baltic states.
“The Czech Republic is historically, politically and in terms of alliances on Ukraine’s side. If Ukraine needs help, we will do our best to help,” the minister said.
As Hospodářské noviny reported, the defence minister is currently negotiating with the Czech Army Chief Aleš Opata about the possible needs of Ukraine. Moreover, the Ukrainian Armed Forces head, General Valery Zaluzhnyj, is expected to come to Prague soon.
At the same time, the Czech army will send six members of its special forces to Ukraine for a joint exercise ‘Silver Sabre 2022’ in late February or early March. The exercise takes place under NATO’s plan to develop the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“The involvement of the Czech Special Forces in the Silver Sabre 2022 exercise has been in preparation for some time, so it is not an immediate response to the current escalated situation,” the defence ministry spokesperson told EURACTIV.cz.
The US and the UK have already decided to ship weapons to Ukraine. Germany, however, has declined to join them, contending that such a move could increase tensions in the region and hamper negotiations with Russia.
PARIS I BERLIN
Macron and Scholz pledge to not give up dialogue with Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, who met in Berlin Tuesday, were eager to project unity in the face of the Ukraine crisis and vowed to “keep open all channels of dialogue” with Russia.
STOCKHOLM
Sweden doing everything to keep ‘out of war’, says foreign minister. Cooperation with NATO remains close and deep, and Sweden is doing everything to stay out of war, said foreign minister Ann Linde after meeting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
SOFIA
Defence minister says no decision to deploy NATO troops in Bulgaria. The government has not decided on gathering or deploying forces of NATO or any other country in Bulgaria, Defence Minister Stefan Yanev said during his hearing in parliament’s defence committee on Tuesday. Let’s reduce the tensions, stop reading the foreign press, and end speculation, he added.
ZAGREB
President: Croatia will not be involved in Ukraine crisis. Croatia would in no way get involved in the Ukraine crisis if it escalated, nor send its soldiers if that were the case, said President Zoran Milanović after visiting the Kraš chocolate factory on Tuesday.
Via Euractive News
