Putin’s threat of nuclear war with all available means at disposal

In response to the two-day attacks on Russian military facilities, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again threatened to use nuclear weapons, saying, “The threat of nuclear conflict is on the rise. Russia considers nuclear weapons a means of defense or a tool for potential retaliatory strikes.” The U.S. responded by denouncing Putin’s “absolutely irresponsible” remarks. The Russian leader also unprecedentedly acknowledged that the conflict was “going to take a while” in a public meeting.

According to CNN on Wednesday, President Putin hinted at the possibility of using nuclear weapons, saying, “The country will fight by all available means at our disposal to protect its territory and the allies” at the annual meeting of Russia’s Human Rights Council broadcasted on television on the day. “The U.S. located its nuclear weapons in large numbers on European soil, while Russia had not transferred its nuclear weapons to other territories and is not planning to do so,” Putin said, criticizing the U.S. for posing nuclear threats. “We haven’t gone mad, we realize what nuclear weapons are. We have the most advanced weapons at our hand, but we are not willing to use it.” He added that the country is considering nukes a deterrence factor rather than a means for a preemptive strike. His remarks are interpreted that Russia might use nuclear arsenals in response to an attack on Russian soil.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price denounced the Russian president for his ‘loose talk,’ saying, “We think any loose talk of nuclear weapons is absolutely irresponsible.”

“With regard to the protracted nature of the special military operation (the war in Ukraine) and its results, of course, it’s going to take a while, perhaps,” Putin said during the meeting on the day. His comment is unprecedented in that Putin, who has never mentioned about the period of conflict so far, admitted that the war would turn into a long-term process.

“With Ukraine having momentum, what we see now is that Russia is actually attempting to try to have some kind of freeze of this war, at least for a short period of time, so they can regroup, repair and recover, and try to launch a bigger offensive,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the Financial Time’s Global Boardroom event on Wednesday.

A prolonged war is leading to a growing number of people suffering from pain in Ukraine. In an interview with Reuters, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned of an “apocalypse scenario for the Ukrainian capital this winter if Russian air strikes continue.” “Kyiv might lose power, water, and heat supply. The apocalypse might happen, like in Hollywood films,” he added.


Eun-A Cho achim@donga.com