Disclosure comes from the prime minister of the Netherlands. Ukraine behind the Russian choice
source: (Trouw, Saturday 8 March, page 1)
There is a risk that the nuclear summit in The Hague at the end of this month will be a flop. With preparations in full swing - the air space will be heavily guarded and 13,000 police officers will provide security on the ground - the summit will probably have to proceed without Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at his weekly press conference after the cabinet meeting on Friday that the Russian president had informed him «last year, and again in February, that there is a real possibility that he will not be able to attend». It is remarkable that Rutte only revealed this on Friday and not last year. Putin’s absence is unusual because no Russian head of state has ever previously cancelled attendance at a nuclear summit. Energy specialist and Russia expert Sybrand de Jong of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) therefore does not believe that Putin is not attending because he is too busy. Everything has changed because of the crisis over Ukraine and Crimea, according to De Jong. «Putin initially had every reason to attend the summit. He would then have been able to lecture the world about security. But if he comes now, it will probably all be about Ukraine. And Putin has no interest in that».
The purpose of the international summit - the largest ever organised in the Netherlands - is to prevent "terrorists" gaining possession of a nuclear bomb. The nuclear summit is an initiative of US President Barack Obama, who described nuclear terrorism as the «greatest threat» to international security in a speech in 2009. Since then the summit, which has already been held twice, has been one of the most prestigious international conferences. The conference in The Hague will be attended by 58 countries. The countries are generally represented by their government leaders. Steven van Evera, a professor of security studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is very worried about the absence of Russia’s president. «The summit has little point without Putin», he says. «This is a major victory for terrorists, for Al Qaeda and all the countries that are pursuing the proliferation of nuclear weapons».
There is a risk that the nuclear summit in The Hague at the end of this month will be a flop. With preparations in full swing - the air space will be heavily guarded and 13,000 police officers will provide security on the ground - the summit will probably have to proceed without Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at his weekly press conference after the cabinet meeting on Friday that the Russian president had informed him «last year, and again in February, that there is a real possibility that he will not be able to attend». It is remarkable that Rutte only revealed this on Friday and not last year. Putin’s absence is unusual because no Russian head of state has ever previously cancelled attendance at a nuclear summit. Energy specialist and Russia expert Sybrand de Jong of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) therefore does not believe that Putin is not attending because he is too busy. Everything has changed because of the crisis over Ukraine and Crimea, according to De Jong. «Putin initially had every reason to attend the summit. He would then have been able to lecture the world about security. But if he comes now, it will probably all be about Ukraine. And Putin has no interest in that».
The purpose of the international summit - the largest ever organised in the Netherlands - is to prevent "terrorists" gaining possession of a nuclear bomb. The nuclear summit is an initiative of US President Barack Obama, who described nuclear terrorism as the «greatest threat» to international security in a speech in 2009. Since then the summit, which has already been held twice, has been one of the most prestigious international conferences. The conference in The Hague will be attended by 58 countries. The countries are generally represented by their government leaders. Steven van Evera, a professor of security studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is very worried about the absence of Russia’s president. «The summit has little point without Putin», he says. «This is a major victory for terrorists, for Al Qaeda and all the countries that are pursuing the proliferation of nuclear weapons».
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