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Russia-US nuclear war is no fantasy, says Kremlin ally
Russia-US nuclear war is no fantasy, says Kremlin ally | GZERO World

Russia-US nuclear war is no fantasy, says Kremlin ally

Russia has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. But from Moscow's perspective, the atomic deterrent was not enough to keep the US and its NATO allies from backing Ukraine against Russia.

That was unexpected since the Kremlin views this as a Western intervention in a proxy war that is strategically vital to Russia, Dmitri Trenin, an ex-Russian intelligence colonel and former director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.

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Putin's nuclear calculus and the Ukraine Paradox
How the Ukraine Paradox Explains Putin's Nuclear Calculus | GZERO World

Putin's nuclear calculus and the Ukraine Paradox


Immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine, the odds of Moscow using nuclear weapons were low because it seemed likely they'd overrun the country with conventional weaponry. New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger credits NATO.

"Without the NATO support, I don't think the Ukrainians would have held on," Sanger tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.

But now, he warns, we're dealing with the 'Ukraine Paradox': the more successful Ukraine gets, the more likely Vladimir Putin will consider using non-conventional weapons. Will that include nukes? Perhaps.

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