If you are looking for the evidence that the Anglo-American/NATO leadership is driving toward nuclear brinkmanship against Russia, look no further than The Times of London, which cites British officials claiming that the West can escalate the war in Ukraine without fearing that the Russians’s threat of using nuclear weapons becomes real.
“British officials and experts think their European allies are too concerned about provoking Russian escalation. Despite increases in the military kit supplied to Ukraine, security officials say there has been no sign of Russia even threatening to use tactical nuclear weapons—the nightmare scenario which would make the third world war threats credible,” wrote the newspaper’s chief political commentator on Aug. 18.
“‘The Russians always spit fire and brimstone,’ said one defense source. ‘I can promise you they haven’t moved a muscle in the direction of nuclear use since the war began. We look at this all the time because tactical nuclear use involves lots of stages. Lots of people are involved, lots of movement of missiles.’”
The defense source told The Times that even to target a brigade of several thousand troops, half a dozen warheads would be required.
The article says that using nuclear weapons would make no political sense for Putin, due to his being restrained by the Chinese, who would not support Russia if it used nuclear weapons. The author also recalls the warning given to Russia in October 2022 by General Petraeus, the former CIA director: “We would respond [to the use of nuclear weapons] by leading a NATO (collective) effort that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea.” Could Petraeus possibly believe that Russia would simply accept such an attack, without responding?
It appears that in London, playing a game of nuclear “chicken” with Russia is a winning strategy.