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President Vladimir Putin is fast turning Russia into an outlaw nation. As one of five
permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, his country shares
a special responsibility to uphold international law. Yet, his behavior in Ukraine
and Syria violates not only the rules intended to promote peace instead of conflict,
but also common human decency.
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
SEPT. 29, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/opinion/vladimir-putins-outlaw-state.html?_r=0
Vladimir Putin last week in Moscow. Credit Pool photo by Ivan Sekretarev
This bitter truth was driven home twice on Wednesday. An investigative
team led by the Netherlands concluded that the surface-to-air missile
system that shot down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine in July 2014,
killing 298 on board, was sent from Russia to Russian-backed separatists
and returned to Russia the same night.
Meanwhile, in Syria, Russian and Syrian warplanes knocked out two
hospitals in the rebel-held sector of Aleppo as part of an assault that
threatens the lives of 250,000 more people in a war that has already
claimed some 500,000 Syrian lives.
Russia has tried hard to pin the blame for the airline crash on Ukraine.
But the new report, produced by prosecutors from the Netherlands,
Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, confirms earlier findings.
It uses strict standards of evidence and meticulously documents not only
the deployment of the Russian missile system that caused the disaster
but also Moscow’s continuing cover-up.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, told The Times last week that
his government is determined to bring both Russia and the individuals
who fired the missile to justice.
Some Western officials have accused Russia of war crimes, charges that
could be pursued through international channels, even if Moscow blocks
a formal referral to the International Criminal Court.
New sanctions against Russia also should be considered. Mr. Putin will
undoubtedly fight any such action, using his veto on the Security Council,
but whatever his response, the United States should lend its support
to Ukraine’s quest for accountability.
There seems no holding Mr. Putin to account in Syria. For months he has
pretended to negotiate on a political solution to a five-year-old civil war
between his client, President Bashar al-Assad, and rebels backed by
the United States and some Arab nations.
But despite pleas from Secretary of State John Kerry, who has spent
an enormous amount of time and effort negotiating two separate
(and short-lived) cease-fires, Russian and Syrian forces, backed by
Iranian ground troops, have continued the slaughter.
Over recent days, Mr. Putin has again shown his true colors with air
attacks that have included powerful bunker-busting bombs that can
destroy underground hospitals and safety zones where civilians seek
shelter. On Sept. 19, Russia bombed an aid convoy, which like hospitals
and civilians are not supposed to be targeted under international law.
On Wednesday, Mr. Kerry threatened to withdraw an American team
from Geneva where the two sides had established a center to collaborate
on a cease-fire. But that is likely to have little effect, and Mr. Kerry has few,
if any, diplomatic cards to play.
President Obama has long refused to approve direct military intervention in
Syria. And Mr. Putin may be assuming that Mr. Obama is unlikely to confront
Russia in his final months and with an American election season in full swing.
But with the rebel stronghold in Aleppo under threat of falling to
the government, administration officials said that such a response
is again under consideration.
Mr. Putin fancies himself a man on a mission to restore Russia to greatness.
Russia could indeed be a great force for good. Yet his unconscionable
behavior — butchering civilians in Syria and Ukraine, annexing Crimea,
computer-hacking American government agencies, crushing dissent
at home — suggests that the furthest thing from his mind is becoming
a constructive partner in the search for peace.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTOpinion),
and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
A version of this editorial appears in print on September 29, 2016, on page A26
of the New York edition with the headline: Mr. Putin’s Outlaw State.
Today's Paper|Subscribe
permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, his country shares
a special responsibility to uphold international law. Yet, his behavior in Ukraine
and Syria violates not only the rules intended to promote peace instead of conflict,
but also common human decency.
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
SEPT. 29, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/opinion/vladimir-putins-outlaw-state.html?_r=0
Vladimir Putin last week in Moscow. Credit Pool photo by Ivan Sekretarev
This bitter truth was driven home twice on Wednesday. An investigative
team led by the Netherlands concluded that the surface-to-air missile
system that shot down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine in July 2014,
killing 298 on board, was sent from Russia to Russian-backed separatists
and returned to Russia the same night.
Meanwhile, in Syria, Russian and Syrian warplanes knocked out two
hospitals in the rebel-held sector of Aleppo as part of an assault that
threatens the lives of 250,000 more people in a war that has already
claimed some 500,000 Syrian lives.
Russia has tried hard to pin the blame for the airline crash on Ukraine.
But the new report, produced by prosecutors from the Netherlands,
Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, confirms earlier findings.
It uses strict standards of evidence and meticulously documents not only
the deployment of the Russian missile system that caused the disaster
but also Moscow’s continuing cover-up.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, told The Times last week that
his government is determined to bring both Russia and the individuals
who fired the missile to justice.
Some Western officials have accused Russia of war crimes, charges that
could be pursued through international channels, even if Moscow blocks
a formal referral to the International Criminal Court.
New sanctions against Russia also should be considered. Mr. Putin will
undoubtedly fight any such action, using his veto on the Security Council,
but whatever his response, the United States should lend its support
to Ukraine’s quest for accountability.
There seems no holding Mr. Putin to account in Syria. For months he has
pretended to negotiate on a political solution to a five-year-old civil war
between his client, President Bashar al-Assad, and rebels backed by
the United States and some Arab nations.
But despite pleas from Secretary of State John Kerry, who has spent
an enormous amount of time and effort negotiating two separate
(and short-lived) cease-fires, Russian and Syrian forces, backed by
Iranian ground troops, have continued the slaughter.
Over recent days, Mr. Putin has again shown his true colors with air
attacks that have included powerful bunker-busting bombs that can
destroy underground hospitals and safety zones where civilians seek
shelter. On Sept. 19, Russia bombed an aid convoy, which like hospitals
and civilians are not supposed to be targeted under international law.
On Wednesday, Mr. Kerry threatened to withdraw an American team
from Geneva where the two sides had established a center to collaborate
on a cease-fire. But that is likely to have little effect, and Mr. Kerry has few,
if any, diplomatic cards to play.
President Obama has long refused to approve direct military intervention in
Syria. And Mr. Putin may be assuming that Mr. Obama is unlikely to confront
Russia in his final months and with an American election season in full swing.
But with the rebel stronghold in Aleppo under threat of falling to
the government, administration officials said that such a response
is again under consideration.
Mr. Putin fancies himself a man on a mission to restore Russia to greatness.
Russia could indeed be a great force for good. Yet his unconscionable
behavior — butchering civilians in Syria and Ukraine, annexing Crimea,
computer-hacking American government agencies, crushing dissent
at home — suggests that the furthest thing from his mind is becoming
a constructive partner in the search for peace.
and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
A version of this editorial appears in print on September 29, 2016, on page A26
of the New York edition with the headline: Mr. Putin’s Outlaw State.
Today's Paper|Subscribe
