Russia’s continued nuclear threat is arguably holding the Western world hostage by preventing any kind of more extensive involvement in providing support for Ukraine.

The existence of a nuclear threat may have factored heavily in NATO’s initial decision to avoid setting up a “no-fly” zone, something which may have quickly given the Ukrainians an impactful and decisive advantage. Continued threats and comments regarding a realistic Russian “nuclear” threat, however likely, are likely taken very seriously by the Biden administration and senior leaders at the Pentagon. At one point, President Biden was clear that the US goal was to avoid a “World War III.” This makes sense given the very realistic possibility of a Russian nuclear response to a more substantial US or NATO involvement. This would be quite realistic because, in large measure, Russia quite likely simply could not compete with NATO in terms of air power or even conventional military ground forces.