
Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not stop making nuclear threats, retired US Lieutenant General and former commander of US forces in Europe Ben Hodges said in an interview with The Sun.
“I think there will be a continuation of their policy of nuclear threats, that if we do certain things, they will use nuclear weapons… They have seen how effective it is over the last three years,” he said.
According to the general, the administration of US President Joe Biden and other Western governments were “paralyzed by fear” that Russia might use tactical nuclear weapons.
At the same time, Hodges accused the West of failing to take the Russian threat seriously, to respond to what Putin has done against Ukraine, and to recognize that it is in its own interests to help Kyiv win:
“We have not been able to rally enough and have not demonstrated the political will to use our advantages to help Ukraine defeat Russia.”
As a reminder, Business Insider previously reported that Russia is experiencing serious difficulties with the launch of the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. As a result, it is dependent on older, weaker missiles while other major powers modernize their nuclear forces.
It was noted that without the new Sarmat, the Russian Federation will have to rely on old missiles, extending their service life, but this cannot continue indefinitely.