Confident Putin warns Europe is ‘defenceless’
[Ever since Russia’s full-scale
invasion of Ukraine,
Moscow has been engaged in
nuclear sabre-rattling,
dropping a series of not-so-subtle hints that
trying to defeat a nuclear power
like Russia could have disastrous consequences
for those who try.
Today President Putin claimed that Russia wouldn’t
need to use a nuclear weapon to
achieve victory in Ukraine.
He was being interviewed at a panel discussion
at the St Petersburg International
Economic Forum: the annual event often
described as ‘Russia’s Davos’.
There are few occasions when Mr Putin looks dovish
compared to the person asking him the questions.
But when the person asking the questions
is Sergei Karaganov it would be hard not to.
Mr Karaganov is a hawkish Russian foreign policy expert.
Last year he called for a pre-emptive nuclear strike.
Today he suggested holding a “nuclear pistol”
to the temple of the West over Ukraine.
President Putin wasn’t so extreme
in his language.
But he is no dove.]
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn00e422yr2o