The State Department has been involved in the private communications with Moscow, but officials would not say who delivered the messages or the scope of their content.
To defend that annexed land, Medvedev said, Russia is able to use not only its newly mobilized forces, but also “any Russian weapon, including strategic nuclear ones and those using new principles,” a reference to hypersonic weapons.
“The blast of a tactical nuclear weapon will have an impact not only in Ukraine but the Black Sea region.”.
The Biden administration would face a crisis if Russia were to use a small nuclear weapon in Ukraine, which isn’t a U.S. treaty ally.
“If he was really thinking very seriously about using nuclear weapons very imminently, he almost certainly would want us to know that,” Acton said.
“He would much rather threaten nuclear use and have us make concessions than actually have to go down the path of nuclear use.”.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, said Russia’s “reckless nuclear threats must stop immediately.”. »
