American General Ben Hodges said that Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons are unlikely to contain a real determination to use them.
This is his opinion expressed in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“I think more and more people are realizing that Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons are just threats. I don’t want to say it’s a zero chance because Russia has thousands of nukes and they clearly don’t care how many people they kill even their own, but I see no advantage for them to use nukes. And especially if Russia itself is not exposed to a direct attack by NATO”, – he said.
In addition, according to Hodges, the Russians realize that their nuclear weapons are most effective when they do not actually use them, but only threaten to use them, because they see how the United States, Germany, some others are hesitating.
“We are holding ourselves back because we are concerned about this escalation. It seems like we are finally starting to get through it. The key will be when the US and Germany both finally say that we want Ukraine to win, that it is in our interests for Ukraine to win against Russia. And when you have a clearly defined strategic outcome, then you can have much better, more effective policy decisions“, the American general explained his position.
At the same time, as the Institute for the Study of War wrote in early March, the use of nuclear weapons by the Russian Federation in Ukraine or any other country in the world is unlikely. In their opinion, the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, is only “traditionally rattling the nuclear saber.”
