Despite nuclear threat

Kremlin draws nuclear card: “Will have its consequences”

US weapons on Russian territory were previously taboo.(Bild: Getty Images)

The US government has quietly given Ukraine permission to use US weapons on a limited scale against targets on Russian territory. Germany and France also appear to want to overturn their previous policy. "Of course, all this will inevitably have its consequences," Moscow says.

The Kremlin is warning emphatically against the West giving permission for its weapons to be used in Ukraine to attack Russia. "And it will ultimately be very damaging to the interests of those countries that have chosen the path of escalating tensions." The NATO states, above all the USA, deliberately chose a course of escalation with "belligerent statements".

Western weapons are subject to strict rules
Ukraine has been demanding for some time that it be allowed to use Western weapons to attack targets on Russian territory. So far, the country has mainly used its own missiles and drones for this purpose. Western weapons have primarily been aimed at Russian positions in the areas of Ukraine occupied by Moscow.

The USA has so far denied Kiev this request. According to the US magazine "Politico", however, Biden is said to have "secretly" given Kiev the green light to attack targets in Russia on the border with Kharkiv with US weapons. US officials also confirmed to the New York Times that this was going on behind the scenes. 

In Vienna, Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov warned the West against crossing "red lines". Russia had the right to use nuclear weapons in response to aggression - even in the event of an attack with conventional weapons, if the existence of the state was in danger.

Nuclear threat
At an event organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), he said that Moscow reserves the right to be "necessarily vague about the nature and scope of our possible nuclear response to aggression".

Kremlin propagandists in state media repeatedly speak out in favor of a nuclear strike against Ukraine or even against the West. In an article for the weekly magazine "Profil", political scientist Dmitry Suslov has now also called on the Kremlin, in view of the possible use of NATO weapons against Russia, to at least cause a "demonstrative nuclear explosion" outside the war zone in order to underline its policy of deterrence.

Kharkiv in the sights
A mushroom cloud shown on television worldwide could revive the fear of nuclear war, Suslow said. Most recently, propagandist Vladimir Solovyov suggested turning Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city near the Russian border, into nuclear ash. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin himself had repeatedly referred to the "invincibility" of Russian nuclear weapons during the conflict.

NATO exerts pressure
At an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on the allies to reconsider the restrictions imposed on the Ukrainians regarding the use of weapons supplied by the West. The nature of the war had changed, Stoltenberg said in his speech. Russia was now firing at Ukraine from its own territory, for example in the greater Kharkiv area in the north-east.

Macron shows on a map how Ukraine is under fire from Russia.(Bild: AFP/Odd ANDERSEN)

French President Emmanuel Macron in particular agreed with the NATO chief. "We must allow them to neutralize military bases from which missiles are launched," said Macron on Tuesday. Even German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently indicated a willingness to rethink the rules for Western weapons. Berlin has so far categorically ruled out the use of such weapons on Russian targets in Russia.