President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expects Vladimir Putin to leverage his warnings over nuclear weapons as a way to divide Ukraine’s allies, saying Russia’s atomic threat is a “fragile point” in the alliance.
(Bloomberg) — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expects Vladimir Putin to leverage his warnings over nuclear weapons as a way to divide Ukraine’s allies, saying Russia’s atomic threat is a “fragile point” in the alliance.
As Russia’s invasion approaches its 19th month, Zelenskiy said he expected the Kremlin leader to step up threats over the winter, moving nuclear weapons to different positions and attempting to trigger blackouts in war-battered Ukraine, Zelenskiy said.
“Putin has only one option — to frighten the world with nuclear weapons,” Zelenskiy told the annual Yalta European Strategy forum, organized by billionaire Victor Pinchuk’s Foundation in Kyiv. “He will pressure the US during a fragile time, since it’ll be an election cycle.”
Putin has repeatedly warned the US and its allies to stay out of the conflict since he ordered the invasion last year, hinting at Russia’s willingness to use any weapon in its arsenal. Moscow deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in June.
The nuclear threat has been a crucial factor in the caution displayed by some of Ukraine’s allies in delivering weapons, including long-range missiles.
It also prompted Elon Musk to curtail his Starlink satellite service to prevent Ukraine from using it for a sea-drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in annexed Crimea last year, according to excerpts from a new biography by Walter Isaacson. Musk worried the move could become a Pearl Harbor-like event and trigger nuclear retaliation if Russian ships — which have since bombarded Ukrainian cities with cruise missiles — were attacked, according to the book.
At the same time, Ukraine and its allies have repeatedly crossed so-called “red lines” drawn by the Kremlin without prompting the dramatic escalation that some western leaders had feared. They include Kyiv attacking the bridge Moscow built to connect its mainland to Crimea and hitting targets on Russian soil, as well as NATO states pledging and providing Ukraine with modern weapons including tanks, mid-range missiles and, most recently, F-16 fighter jets.
The Ukrainian military has meanwhile cited grinding progress in recent weeks as its forces seek to break Russian defensive lines on the southern front. Zelenskiy acknowledged that the counteroffensive is going slowly.
“It is a difficult war, lots of processes slowed down, some partners asking us what is happening to the counteroffensive,” the president said. “My answer is that our steps are faster than sanction packages. Everything is becoming more complicated, from sanctions to weapons,” he said.
“What is important is that our soldiers are moving ahead and that the initiative is on our side,” Zelenskiy said. “Yes, people want it all and now — and that is understandable, but this is not a movie.”
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