Violation of national integrity is not a problem for Moscow in the case of Ukraine. However, should Russia itself be affected, Putin threatens to use all its resources. Washington is now letting it be known that this would have "catastrophic consequences".
The US has threatened Russia with "catastrophic consequences" if it uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine. "The United States will react decisively," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told NBC. He told CBS that the Kremlin had been told "directly, privately, at a very high level" that any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic consequences for Russia. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had previously told the UN in New York that after a possible annexation of the Cherson and Zaporizhia regions in Ukraine, the Russian nuclear doctrine would also apply to the annexed areas.
The doctrine justifies a nuclear strike in response to an attack that "threatens the continued existence of the state." This can also be done conventionally. It is also possible to use nuclear weapons if there is reliable information that an enemy attack is about to take place.
President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Russia would use all of its resources to defend its people. "Russia has modern weapons of destruction. I'm not bluffing," said the Kremlin chief. He previously claimed that NATO had plans to use nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it clear that he takes Putin's nuclear threats seriously. "Maybe yesterday it was a bluff. Now it could be reality," he told US broadcaster CBS News, according to the translation. Referring to the skirmishes around the Russian-held Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said: "He (Putin) wants to scare the whole world. These are the first steps of his nuclear blackmail. I don't think he's bluffing."
