Blackmail

31 MOSCOW

It was 5 p.m. when Christine O’Connor’s limousine pulled up to the century-old Hotel National, only a stone’s throw away from the Kremlin, with her hotel room offering a stunning view of the five palaces and four cathedrals enclosed within the Kremlin walls. After a hard day’s work negotiating the finer details of the follow-on treaty to New START, Christine stepped from the limo, bidding farewell to her translator. As she entered the hotel lobby, she noticed crowds gathered around the television monitors. She stopped and watched a video of protesters being gunned down in a city square, followed by interviews of injured and bloodied victims. Christine stopped by the hotel concierge, asking him what was going on.

The concierge explained what had occurred in the Zaporizhia Oblast of Ukraine, situated just below the Donbass. Tensions in the oblast had run high since Euromaidan, with the population split between pro-Western and pro-Russian sympathizers, and public demonstrations had sometimes turned violent. However, nothing like this had occurred before — government forces gunning down pro-Russian protesters.

Christine thanked the concierge and was about to head to her hotel room when Russian President Yuri Kalinin appeared on the TV screens. He was giving a press conference, camera bulbs flashing, as he stood behind a podium emblazoned with the Russian Federation seal. Christine leaned toward the concierge, asking him to translate as Kalinin spoke.

President Kalinin was furious, the concierge explained, due to yet another case of ethnic Russians being persecuted by the new Ukrainian government. Russia had a responsibility, Kalinin proclaimed, to ensure the safety of all Russians, even those beyond its borders, and he would evaluate options on how to respond to Ukraine’s aggression. When a reporter asked if the options included the use of military force, Kalinin stated all options were on the table, and he’d already given the order to mobilize military units in western Russia.

Kalinin stepped away from the podium, and the TV shifted to talking heads in news studios, speculating on what Russia’s response might be.

Christine thanked the concierge for the translation, her mind churning as she headed toward her room. Kalinin was rattling his saber, but whether he intended to use it, she couldn’t predict, nor could she predict NATO’s and the United States’ response. Ukraine wasn’t a member of NATO, and as such, the United States had no obligation to respond if Russia invaded. However, all of Western Europe, as well as the United States, would have to decide whether to come to Ukraine’s assistance.

With the prospect of Russia going to war with Ukraine, her thoughts shifted to her last trip to China, when she’d been detained in the Great Hall of the People at the start of China’s war with the United States. After the unpleasant experience, the last thing she wanted was to get stuck in Russia during a conflict that might draw in the United States.

Christine decided she would end the second round of nuclear weapons negotiations, coming up with an excuse to cut her trip short, then continue discussions once things settled down. She pulled her phone from her purse and dialed the U.S. embassy in Moscow, informing them of her change in plans. She’d be departing Russia as soon as transport was arranged.