US expert: no need for Russia to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine
American political expert Dimitri Simes sees no reason at this stage to believe that Russia has decided to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine
In his talk with the Soloviev Live channel, the expert noted that NATO used to place nuclear weapons in focus in times when the Soviet Union had an advantage in conventional forces in Europe.
“American tactical nuclear weapons were primarily created to fight Soviet tanks. The US was then afraid of the latter’s advance to the English Channel. These are not just double standards; from my point of view, there is no logic in a statement that if Russia thinks about using tactical nuclear weapons, this will be an absolutely outrageous and monstrous crime,” Mr. Simes said.
According to the expert, if the United States and NATO did not rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons, then ‘it should be acceptable for other countries if they find themselves in comparable circumstances’.
“Those in the US proclaim outright nonsense: i.e. they are confident that Russia will not use tactical nuclear weapons, since the latter are kept at warehouses at present. It is only a matter of a few days to transfer these weapons to the troops (if there are well-developed procedures). However, the Russian government is in no hurry with such moves. Looking at how the situation is developing in Ukraine, there is no need in them,” Mr. Simes stressed.
