New Delhi: As Russia launched its invasion into Ukraine on 24 February, President Vladimir Putin warned the West to not intervene in the conflict, extolling that any intervention would lead to “such consequences that you have never encountered in your history”, in a veiled threat at nuclear escalation.
With Ukraine putting up a stiff resistance and not capitulating as the Russians had imagined, Putin again reiterated his nuclear threat by ordering “Russian nuclear forces to be put on high alert” on Sunday.
While many analysts saw this as hard posturing by Russia to get Ukraine on the negotiating table, given the Ukrainian President had rejected previous offers of talks, shortly after this statement — Ukraine agreed to talks in Belarus.
Europe’s nuclear arsenal
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