Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons have been a shadow over the Ukraine war and were a key topic at Thursday’s emergency NATO summit in Brussels.
Yet the biggest danger posed by Vladimir Putin’s nuclear, chemical or biological weapons may not be their actual use in Ukraine. The mere threat of deploying weapons of mass destruction appears to be deterring NATO from sending Ukraine the critical weapons systems it needs to survive.
Early in the war, Putin proclaimed he had put his nuclear arsenal on “special combat duty regime,” an ambiguous term that hinted at a dangerous escalation. He also warned that outside interference in Russia’s war would trigger consequences “never before experienced in your history.”
