Editorial | Take seriously Vladimir Putin’s threat of nuclear war
- Russian president’s words cannot be dismissed as mere bluster; the world must act as one to prevent a catastrophe
With his country’s invasion of Ukraine meeting resistance and toughened economic sanctions from the West and its allies starting to have an impact, an escalation was always a possibility. The move could be bluster, but there is no room for complacency; the United Nations has to respond decisively for the sake of global peace.
Putin did not explain how his decision would alter the status of Russia’s nuclear forces, many of which are on a high state of readiness at all times. Such is also the case for Russia’s main rival, the United States, the only country to have used atomic weapons in combat when it dropped two bombs on Japan in August 1945.
In the minutes before the invasion of Ukraine began last Thursday, the Russian leader threatened others seeking to intervene with “consequences as you have never before experienced in your history”.