On the occasion of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, the group of Japanese survivors of the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who are dedicated to warning the world of the reality of nuclear warfare, yesterday President Joe Biden dropped the ball, triggering some quick responses from Moscow. With the obvious cases of unabated U.S. weaponry going to Ukraine, and Israel driving the world into a thermonuclear confrontation with Russia, Biden only offered, at a ceremony for Nihon Hidankyo, that the “United States stands ready to engage in talks with Russia, China, and North Korea without preconditions to reduce the nuclear threat. There is no benefit to our nations or the world to forestall progress on reducing nuclear arsenals.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that “it is absolutely impossible to discuss the topic without linking it to all other security aspects, given that “a war is being waged against Russia with the indirect and even direct involvement of nuclear powers such as the U.S., U.K., and France.” The deputy chair of the Russian Federation Council Senator Konstantin Kosachyov posted on Telegram: “Biden made a statement in connection with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo. In particular, it talks about Washington’s alleged readiness to negotiate with Russia, China and North Korea without preconditions.” Kosachyov cited Donald Trump openly saying “that the Biden administration’s policy is leading the world to nuclear war,” and that Biden was “in a hurry to demonstrate his ‘peacefulness.’ In this regard, the statement of the ‘lame duck’ and his desire to promote himself on the Nobel topic should hardly be taken as a serious invitation to negotiations.”
