Team Trump mustnt buy Putins nuke threats: Were not on the verge of WW III

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin is beating his chest again, hinting he may use nuclear weapons.Don’t buy the bluffs: We’re not on the verge of a nuclear World War III.Putin’s huffing follows reports that the Biden administration gave a limited green light for Ukraine to use US-provided, long-range missiles, Army Tactical Missile Systems, on Russian territory.That decision comes after months of US officials foolishly avoiding Kyiv’s pleas to use them outside Ukraine’s borders. US officials say Russia’s decision to deploy North Korean soldiers against Ukraine largely triggered the policy change.That led Putin to reach into his old bag of tricks: He immediately threatened the West by launching an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile at Ukraine and announcing that Moscow was lowering its threshold for a nuclear response.The White House’s decision added “oil to the fire,” Kremlin officials warned. “Russia could retaliate against Kiev and key NATO facilities, wherever they’re located .

..

that means World War III,” puffed Russian politician Dmitry Medvedevon X.No one — particularly the incoming Trump team — should fall for Russia’s psychological games; the threats are simply part of a pattern, where Putin tries to capitalize on Washington’s nuclear fears.Russia’s own nuclear doctrine, for starters, already calls for a first-strike use of nuclear weapons when the country is invaded and occupied.Yet that proved a hollow deterrent when Ukraine invaded Kursk in August — and no nukes were deployed.Indeed, the Kremlin has been threatening nuclear escalation since February 2022.Recall that Biden had been reluctant even just to send ATACMS to Kyiv, yet when Washington eventually did, Moscow’s nukes remained at home. In 2023, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned of “enormous risks” if Ukraine received F-16 jets; when the West sent them anyway, it did not provoke Moscow.In May 2024, Biden allow...