The nuclear threats issued by Russian officials are empty, as the costs of following through with them would be much higher than the pay off, according to a commentator.
Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin have regularly made intimidating remarks to the West and Kyiv over the possible use of nuclear weapons.
But former member of the Russian Parliament, Ilya Ponomarev, believes the chances Putin will ever press the red button are low, as it would cost the Russian leader his precious alliance with Xi Jinping’s China.
He told Express.co.uk: “I do not see any upside for Putin to use nukes, but a lot of downsides.
“Any use of weapons of mass destruction would trigger not just a scary backlash from the West, but even a split with his most valuable ally of today – China.”
Moscow and Beijing strengthened their relations just days before the invasion of Ukraine, China committed to a “no-limit partnership” with Russia.
Hit by Western sanctions, Russia turned to the Chinese market and the trade turnover between the two countries saw an eye-watering 39 percent increase in the first quarter of 2023 when compared with the same period last year.
Speaking about the relations between Moscow and Beijing, Mr Xi said in March: “We firmly support each other in following a development path suited to our respective national realities and support each other’s development and rejuvenation. The bilateral relationship has grown more mature and resilient.”
Mr Ponomarev, who obtained Ukrainian citizenship in 2019 after going into exile in the country, also noted how most of the threats regarding nuclear weapons have been issued by allies or mouthpieces of Putin rather than the president himself.
The politician, the only member of the Duma to vote against Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, continued: “So no, Putin would continue to blackmail everybody with such a possibility, but even that not through his own statements, but through the [mouths] of the most irresponsible supporters of his, like Medvedev, or Duma deputies, or propaganda people. So I think this threat is minimal.”
The most recent nuclear threat issued by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dates back to the end of July, when his country was marking Navy Day.
The Russian armed forces fighting the Ukrainian counter-offensive, he claimed, aren’t just “defending Russian citizens and our land” but are also “preventing global conflict”.
Should Ukraine be successful in conquering back the four regions annexed by Russia in September last year amid international outrage, Moscow would see that as an attack on its territory, Mr Medvedev suggested.
He added: “Then we would have to, following the President’s degree of 02.06.2020, use the nuclear weapon. There would simply be no other way out.”
The Russian politician, who is now deputy chair of the Russian security council, added another thinly-veiled threat saying Poseidon, a nuclear-powered underwater torpedo being tested by his country, “sends its greetings and recommends the enemies of our country to pray for all the Russian marines’ health”.
