Russia’s Nuclear Threat

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that if the US sent its troops to Ukraine it will be considered tantamount to escalating the conflict. His statement has come at a time when the Russia-Ukraine conflict war has taken a grave turn. Russia is ready for the election of the President on 15th March. And as per the situation prevailing in Russia Putin is slated to get another year term as the president. This statement is meant to kill two birds with one stone. One he wants to address his constituency and assure the masses that the territorial integrity and sovereignty is non negotiable. Two he has sent a clear warning to the US and its allies that Russia will not tolerate the landing of any foreign troops in Ukraine. In a recent interview the Russian President was asked whether he had considered using the nuclear weapons during the on going conflict. He said there was no need for that. He said that Russia is ready for talks but he needs the guarantee from the West for the workable resolution of the conflict. He also said that he considers  President Biden as an experienced politician as such  he is aware about the ramifications of the escalation of the conflict to the next level.In order to clarify the statement issued by President Putin on nuclear threat, Kremlin has  clarified that US has  taken his remarks deliberately out of context. Putin has given an interview with the state media. Commenting on Putin’s words, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Washington understood that the Russian leader was restating Moscow’s nuclear doctrine, but accused Russia of deploying “reckless and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric throughout the Ukraine conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said on Thursday that Putin had merely been answering a journalist’s questions on the subject and restating the already well known circumstances in which Russia would theoretically be forced to use nuclear weapons. Peskov also drew attention to the fact that Putin had said in the same interview that the idea of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine had never crossed his mind. He has further clarified that this was deliberately taken out of context. Putin made no threats about the use of nuclear weapons in this interview. The president was just talking about the reasons that could make the use of nuclear weapons inevitable. He emphasised that these are the reasons that are stated in our relevant documents, which are well known throughout the world. Moreover, everyone in the West deliberately failed to notice his words that it had never occurred to him to use tactical nuclear weapons (in Ukraine), despite the various situations that have developed in the course of the fighting. Stating this is a deliberate distortion of the context and an unwillingness to hear President Putin. Recently, there has been the acknowledgement of the Indian role to deescalate the Russia-Ukraine conflict by India in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had convinced the President Vladimir Putin to desist from the nuclear warfare. That is indeed heartening. International community must work to end the stalemate and convince the stakeholders to stop the war. As its escalation has only worsened the global economic condition leading to trade imbalance. The long term devastation has only aggravated the world scenario. India must take the lead. As Indian intervention hold weight when it comes to Russia. Both the nations share a traditional all-weather friendship that goes beyond international politics and geo-politics.