Victoria Nuland, the US Deputy Secretary of State is convinced that harsh warnings from other states convinced Russian leader Vladimir Putin that the reaction to the use of nuclear weapons would be unprecedented and difficult for Russia, and this forced the Russian Federation to resort to the current tactics of war, which is unacceptable, too.
She stated this at a meeting with journalists in Kyiv, answering the question from European Pravda.
The US Deputy Secretary of State stressed that after Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons, which he voiced out in summer and autumn, the world has resorted to attempts to convince the Russian Federation not to move past the point of no return. “You have seen that not only the United States, but also other G7 members have come out to the Kremlin with signals that it is completely unacceptable and irresponsible to throw this [hints of the use of nuclear weapons] around,” Nuland said.
“Russia has already made itself an outcast, but we have explained that the use of nuclear weapons will have a response and consequences of an incomparable level. Our response was united, and after that, Russia switched to a fundamentally different weapon, launching attacks on the energy infrastructure,” she said.
Victoria Nuland stressed that the tactics chosen by Russia instead of nuclear escalation were also absolutely unacceptable. “Russia has moved the war from the battlefield to civilians, to people’s homes, which in itself is an absolutely unacceptable escalation,” she said, stressing that the West applies sanctions against Russia. Based on her explanations, the nuclear threat is not currently part of Russia’s immediate plans.
“After all this talk about nuclear weapons, which were very dangerous, threatening and unacceptable, and when we explained what the price would be for Russia, Putin decided to do something different. And you have to live with this “other” now,” she stated.
Victoria Nuland stressed that despite this, the West should “remain vigilant” against all threats from the Russian Federation.
James Risch, the US senator [Republicans] has added that the Kremlin was unlikely to escalate the Russian war against Ukraine into a nuclear war and would not dare to use nuclear weapons.
Read also the article Fading Nuclear Threat: West No Longer Scared of Russian Nuclear Strike on Ukraine.
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