Putin steps up nuclear threats as West hesitates over Ukraine’s weapons

The remarks were a thinly veiled reference to Ukraine, which is seeking permission to use long-range missiles supplied by the US, France and Britain to strike targets deep inside Russia.

“We see that the modern military and political situation is changing dynamically, and we have to take this into account,” he said.

Putin said this included “the emergence of new sources of threats and military risks for Russia and our allies.”

Two weeks ago, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden discussed lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons at a White House meeting.

But despite US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken indicating after the meeting that restrictions would be lifted, reports say talks are still ongoing and no final decision has been made.

Ukraine has long argued that it must use the weapons to strike Russian military sites and airfields crucial to its invasion force in Ukraine, but the US has hesitated, fearing it could cross Russia’s “red lines” and cause a nuclear attack.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said Putin’s latest remarks were likely empty threats meant to intimidate the West.

The Russian president, they said, is trying to “breathe new life into the Kremlin’s jaded nuclear saber-tooth information operation and generate a new wave of panic among Western policymakers at a particularly critical time in Western policy talks with regarding Ukraine’s ability to use- supplied weapons”.

Putin has in the past suggested a number of red lines in response to Western support for Ukraine, including designating the seized territory as part of Russia, which would be defended with nuclear weapons.

Some analysts have urged caution, with George Beebe, former head of the CIA’s Russia analysis, and Suzanne Loftus, a research fellow at the Quincy Institute’s Eurasia Program, warning in an article for Responsible Statecraft last year that the West may not know it has passed over Russia . rows until it was “too late”.

According to reports, Putin considered using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine after it repulsed Russian forces at the start of a full-scale invasion in 2022, but was dissuaded by Chinese President Xi Jinping.