Continuing his intense information campaign, Russian President Vladimir Putin made threatening statements about nuclear weapons two days in a row, causing outrage and concern on the international stage.
About this informs Institute for the Study of War.
During a speech to Russian military graduates, he announced his intention to develop Russia’s nuclear triad as a “guarantee of strategic deterrence”, while at a press conference in Vietnam on June 20 he expressed the possibility of “lowering the threshold” for the use of nuclear weapons in Russian military doctrine.
ISW believes that such statements are not only aimed at strengthening Russia’s position in global relations, but are also aimed at sabotaging Western support for Ukraine and making it difficult to agree on an international strategy to stop Russian aggression against the neighboring country.
In addition, experts emphasize that Putin may be exaggerating the threats associated with the Ukrainian conflict in order to create “exceptional circumstances” when the use of nuclear weapons can be considered justified.
International reactions to his statements on nuclear policy remain sharp, but most analysts consider it likely that Putin’s tactical statements do not lead directly to actual nuclear escalation, but are part of a diplomatic game to exert political pressure and manipulate the situation on the international stage.
