Russia has an explicit , which translates into using nuclear weapons first if it is losing a war and feels the future of the Russian State is at stake.
declaration would still reduce the risk of a misunderstanding or miscommunication causing a conventional conflict to escalate to a nuclear exchange.
In practice, the enhanced combat alert consisted largely of adding staff to shifts at relevant nuclear weapon sites.
Putin said he learned that day how dangerous a cornered rat can be.
Putin could calculate that he is operating from a position of strength, increasing the likelihood that the crisis will escalate and allow him to make greater demands for Western concessions, Mr.
In short, standing up to a Putin who used a nuclear weapon is risky.