Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a nuclear threat and warned of a global conflict in his State of the Nation speech, ahead of the one-year anniversary of his war in Ukraine.
Putin railed against the West, accusing it of seeking to turn the war into a global conflict. He also used language that indicated a defeat in Ukraine would justify the use of nuclear weapons. Keir Giles, an expert on security issues affecting Russia, noted that Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons were more subtle than before, but were still present. Giles added that the coded message was intended to deter Western backers from providing the essential war-winning support to Ukraine.
