Ý nghĩa của việc Nga rút khỏi Hiệp ước cấm thử hạt nhân?

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In a landmark moment (thời điểm mang tính bước ngoặt) marking the closing chapters of the Cold War (Chiến tranh Lạnh), Presidents Ronald Reagan of the United States and Mikhail S. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union concluded (kết luận, kết thúc) a 1985 summit (hội nghị thượng đỉnh) in Geneva by issuing a joint statement (tuyên bố chung) declaring (tuyên bố, công bố) that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought (một cuộc chiến hạt nhân không thể giành thắng lợi và không bao giờ nên xảy ra).”

That commitment (lời cam kết) paved the way for (mở đường cho) a series of historic agreements (thỏa thuận lịch sử) to reduce the nuclear arsenals (kho vũ khí) of Russia and the United States, which together hold the vast majority of the world’s most destructive weapons (vũ khí hủy diệt), and to limit their spread (lan tràn) globally.

Amid far more confrontational (sự đương đầu, sự đối đầu) relations between Moscow and Washington, that architecture of disarmament (sự giảm quân bị, sự giải trừ quân bị) and nonproliferation is now gradually being dismantled (dỡ bỏ). On Thursday, President Vladimir V. Putin signed a law revoking (thu hồi, rút lại, hủy bỏ) Russia’s ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear testing.

In pushing through the de-ratification, Mr. Putin said that he wanted to “mirror” the American position. Although the United States signed the treaty in 1996, it has never been ratified (phê chuẩn).

What does Russia’s decision mean?

Though the move was mostly symbolic (biểu tượng), it added to the recent sense of menace (đe dọa) fostered by Mr. Putin and other hard-line Kremlin officials.

The hard-liners have been rattling the nuclear saber (kiếm lưỡi cong, đe dọa) as a threat to others not to intervene (xen vào, can thiệp) in the Ukraine war, arguing that an atomic blast (vụ nổ nguyên tử) — in Ukraine, in Europe, or maybe in a test over Siberia — was a sure means to resurrect (khơi dậy) Western fear of Russian might (sức mạnh). At a conference this year, Mr. Putin mentioned that Moscow had successfully tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile with global reach. Russia trumpeted (tuyên bố) it as part of a newly robust arsenal of strategic nuclear weapons, though analysts widely believed it to be far from operational. It is unclear, however, whether Russia will resume tests of nuclear warheads (đầu đạn).

source: nytimes,