President Joe Biden has purposefully kept his public pronouncements on the repercussions of Russian nuclear use unclear, but the administration has been communicating privately with Russian leadership for a number of months.
Sources informed The Washington Post that these signals warned of the dire repercussions of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield and smaller, more precise nuclear bombs to intensify or de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
The vagueness of American retaliatory operations is meant to operate as a nuclear deterrent to Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine that started on February 24.
Whether such private texts were received after Russian President Vladimir Putin said everything is on the table and that he is not “bluffing” as he seeks to reclaim lost ground in eastern Ukraine is not clear. This past Sunday, Biden publicly warned against the deployment of nuclear weapons, saying simply to “60 Minutes”: “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.”
The warning communications have been sent by the State Department, but officials declined to reveal what is contained in them.
After holding referendums, Russia intends to annexe four regions of eastern Ukraine. According to Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, if such regions were admitted into Russia, Russia would employ every Russian weapon, including potentially hypersonic and strategic nuclear weapons.
The Biden administration points out that Russia has already threatened to use nuclear weapons to further the objectives of its special military operation in Ukraine.
Vadym Skibitskyi, the head of military intelligence for Ukraine, claimed in a television interview that Russia would not think twice about using tactical nuclear weapons to halt our aggressive actions and topple our government.
