Will West ignore or heed Putin’s latest nuclear blackmail?

Vladimir Putin has announced what appears to be a dramatic strengthening of Russia’s nuclear doctrine. The Russian president was responding to speculation that the West may relax its restrictions on Ukraine’s use of its weapons to attack targets inside Russia.

He told his security council that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons if it was attacked by any state with conventional weapons. The trigger for the launch of nuclear missiles against Ukraine or any of its allies, he said, would be “reliable information about a massive launch of aerospace attack means and their crossing of our state border.”

Whether this will affect the thinking of Ukraine’s Western allies about the use of its long-range missiles has yet to be seen. But one of the major features of the public discourse about the Ukraine war has been the risk of the use of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear threats have been a standard tactic for the Russian leadership. Whenever Ukraine receives new weapons from the West or is allowed to use Western arms to target Russian territory, Moscow has responded by either referring to the devastation it could wreak with its nuclear arsenal or by holding a drill to remind the West of its existence.

But there have recently been reports of a growing realization among Putin’s close advisers that these threats are beginning to wear thin, as one after another of Moscow’s “red lines” are ignored.

Nevertheless, despite providing Ukraine with the most advanced air defense systems and offensive missiles that could strike targets deep within Russia – and perhaps even influence the course of the war – NATO countries are maintaining a strict limit on their use. It’s an indication that despite skepticism about Putin’s willingness to use