Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during an interview in Moscow, on March 12.Gavriil Grigorov/The Associated Press
A top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia’s latest nuclear threat is a sign of desperation, and that Western leaders must continue providing aid to Ukraine in order to prevent Vladimir Putin from gaining permanent leverage over democratic countries.
The adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said in an interview on Wednesday that Mr. Putin is growing afraid of internal rebellion as the war in Ukraine drags on. This, Mr. Podolyak said, is why the Russian President continues to “pretend to be brave” by reminding the world that he has nuclear weapons.
Mr. Podolyak urged calm, but also called on international policy-makers to take Russia’s nuclear rhetoric seriously. “I would like the international community, for example, the IAEA or the UN Security Council, to treat these statements accordingly,” he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Mr. Putin has threatened nuclear action at various times over the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began more than two years ago. He renewed those threats during an interview with Russian state television that aired on Wednesday.
Asked if he had considered using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, he said there had not been a need, adding that U.S. President Joe Biden understands the potential risk of escalation. But he said Moscow is ready to use nuclear weapons if there is a threat to “the existence of the Russian state, our sovereignty and independence.”
He added that Ukraine and its allies will have to accept a deal to end the war on Russian terms.
Mr. Podolyak said Russia has specific objectives in its war. In addition to seizing part or all of Ukraine, he said, Russia wants to show that it can enter any sovereign country, for any reason.
“This is a war about the rules of further existence,” Mr. Podolyak said.
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He added that Ukraine needs aviation support, because Russia’s tactical aviation has given it an advantage on the war’s front line. He said his country also needs long-range missiles, shells and drones.
The alternative to defeating Russia, he said, would be constant escalation and war, because Russia will feel the West can always be suppressed.
Ukraine is facing increasing difficulty securing assistance from the U.S., its main wartime funder, as Republican leaders continue to hold up a US$61-billion military aid package. A US$300-million aid package announced on Tuesday will be the first sent from the U.S. to Ukraine in months. European Union countries announced a separate aid package this week, valued at €5-billion.
Mr. Podolyak said that if Washington doesn’t provide Ukraine with the full aid package soon, the U.S. may eventually have a more costly conflict on its hands, because Russia won’t stop with Ukraine.
“What will Russia do next? Russia will further provoke the global political space, Russia will further go into the territory of neighboring countries,” he said.
He noted Russia’s deepening ties with North Korea and Iran. Mr. Putin, he said, is forming alliances that could shift the global order.
“How many countries will be there tomorrow that will feel that the balance of power in the world has changed? That is, that countries of democracy do not dominate, that they can be constantly provoked, that they can be constantly attacked.”
“How much will the danger cost then?”
With reports from the Associated Press and Kateryna Hatsenko
Janice Dickson