NEW YORK TIMES:
Today, events worldwide seem to be escalating at a rapid clip. The crisis, beginning with the discovery of a weapons cache along the Turkish border, could escalate into a renewed Chechen war that now threatens to spread out across all of central Asia. Such a conflict could threaten the interests of several of the Permanent 5 member countries of the Security Council – Russia in particular has so far fought two Chechen wars, and China shares a land border with the region.
The Russian delegate was worried about the prospect of such a conflict. As the Russian delegate explained, “I think the crisis has been moving from one place to another, and the more it moves around the more threat it possesses. We can’t necessarily pinpoint the location of an organization.” The Russian delegation was most worried by the reunification of the Uzbekistan Islamic State with ISIS, something that “didn’t make sense to us.” In response, Russia has offered to share whatever information it received from its home government with the international community.
While Russia is openly willing to cooperate with the international community, some representatives aren’t convinced. While the delegate from Ukraine was at pains to describe his willingness to work with the Russian government in the name of protecting civilians, he also noted that “The Crimea, obviously, was illegitimately annexed by the Russian federation.” Despite this, he appeared to be willing to work with the Russian government to resolve the pressing international crisis.
While the United States has also previously expressed its willingness to collaborate with Russia, the American intelligence community currently alleges that the Russian government leaked Democratic Party emails through Wikileaks with the aim of swaying the US election. Despite this, the American delegation was willing to exercise a considerable degree of restraint, saying “We most certainly do not want to spiral back into another cold war.”
In response to the situation, the Security Council has passed a directive instructing INTERPOL to take steps to ensure the security of arms depots. Time will tell whether this measure is effective.
International Press Corps 