Putin Likely to Make Nuclear Threats If War Drags, U.S. Says

[Yorkie Mom]

Putin Likely to Make Nuclear Threats If War Drags, U.S. Says

Defense Intelligence Agency chief offers a grim assessment
Russia may ‘rely on its nuclear deterrent’ to signal strength

President Vladimir Putin can be expected to brandish threats to use nuclear weapons against the West if stiff Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s invasion continues, draining conventional manpower and equipment, according to a new assessment by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency.

“Protracted occupation of parts of Ukrainian territory threatens to sap Russian military manpower and reduce their modernized weapons arsenal, while consequent economic sanctions will probably throw Russia into prolonged economic depression and diplomatic isolation,” Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said in its new 67-page summary of worldwide threats.

... snip

“As this war and its consequences slowly weaken Russian conventional strength,” Berrier added, “Russia likely will increasingly rely on its nuclear deterrent to signal the West and project strength to its internal and external audiences.”

The Pentagon agency’s grim appraisal of the war’s broader stakes comes on the eve of a call between President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping. Even as U.S. officials struggle to discern China’s position on the war, Biden will seek Xi’s help ratcheting up pressure on Moscow to end it.

More: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-17/putin-is-likely-to-make-nuclear-threats-if-war-drags-u-s-says

[Demsrule86]

1. They have already done that...so I guess water is wet.

[Gore1FL]

2. He's used it once. Each time he uses it it comes with diminishing returns and higher consequences.

Hopefully someone who understand that will either explain it to him or replace him; perhaps do both at the same time.

[Calculating]

3. The boy who cried wolf

..

[Justice matters.]

4. The war criminal sounds like Kim Jung Un...

More and more desperate.

[SoonerPride]

5. Then we warn him in no uncertain terms

You launch nuclear weapons then Russia will be uninhabitable for 10,000 years.