Even so, Ukraine is fortunate that Biden isn’t the only important leader who doesn’t want Putin to use nukes against Ukraine. It seems that China also opposes such an act.
None of this guarantees that Putin won’t use nukes. He has made blunder after blunder, and now that he’s desperate, he might ignore U.S. threats and Chinese advice.
But if the U.S. does respond by raining down “catastrophic consequences,” using nukes will make Russian defeat more likely, not less. And a defeat under these circumstances will make Putin’s ouster more likely.
Russian power brokers will accept a violation of international norms this massive, and the ostracism that would follow, only if it works militarily. If it’s counterproductive, I don’t see how Putin stays in power.
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