Russian President [Vladimir] Putin has doubled down on his nuclear saber rattling as he increasingly feels cornered. Experts are warning that we may be closer to nuclear weapons use than we’ve been since the Cuban Missile crisis about 60 years ago, when the world came terrifyingly close to a full-scale nuclear war that could have killed many millions.
President [John F.] Kennedy and Soviet leader [Nikita Sergeyevich] Khrushchev de-escalated by opening a back channel for private negotiations. It was effective diplomacy that prevented nuclear war. Khrushchev reasonably demanded that if he were to withdraw Soviet nuclear weapons from Cuba, the U.S. must withdraw its nuclear weapons in Turkey, which were equally close to the USSR. Kennedy wisely agreed, but kept the agreement secret to prevent political blowback.
As long as the Ukraine War continues, the danger of the use of nuclear weapons remains acute. The only “off ramp” that will certainly prevent the use of nuclear weapons, which could potentially escalate all the way to global nuclear annihilation, is to engage in a diplomatic surge to rapidly end the war.
Those interested in participating in this critical effort to prevent the very real danger of nuclear annihilation are urged to visit peacecoalition.org.
Rev. Robert Moore
Executive Director of the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action
