Is Russia bringing in nuclear arms?
In Russia President Putin has warned that the coming decade will be the most dangerous and unpredictable since the second world war. Speaking after a series of military defeats in Ukraine, he sought to justify Russia's invasion which has left his country internationally isolated. In Moscow, he defended Russia’s actions in Ukraine and claimed that the Russian economy had survived the worst of sanctions imposed by the West. He went on to accuse the former Prime Minister of the UK Liz Truss that she was out of her mind to talk about the use of nuclear weapons.
The war in Ukraine has not gone according to plan. But more from Vladimir Putin, there are no regrets or remorse. He blamed the West for the conflict and made only passing reference to the human cost of his invasion.
Strength is what the Kremlin leader is trying to project. This week he oversaw massive exercises of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces – a clear message that the West can’t mess with Moscow. President Putin remembered he’d once said that in a nuclear war Russians would go to heaven and the enemy to hell.
Mr Putin accused the West of nuclear blackmail against Russia. The West denounced recent veiled nuclear threats by the Kremlin. The NATO military alliance recently condemned claims by Russia that Ukraine might use a "dirty bomb” - meaning conventional explosives laced with radioactive material. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg rejected the suggestion and said, "Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation".
All we know for sure is that Ukraine is still a pawn in Putin’s power games.