Russia finds it more beneficial to threaten the use of nuclear weapons than to actually use them. However, the danger should not be ignored, because the Kremlin has no moral restraints and no incentive to stop.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, Ben Hodges.
“For Russia, there is no benefit in using nuclear weapons. The only benefit is the threat… because they see that most governments are terrified by the idea of nuclear war,” the retired general said.
He noted that the administration of Joe Biden, for example, was hesitant in providing assistance to Ukraine and never clearly stated from Washington that it wanted Ukraine to win.
According to Hodges, the U.S. was concerned about the risk of nuclear war. He also pointed out that countries that would be most affected by a Russian nuclear strike are often less anxious about it than those geographically farther away.
Commenting on recent Russian–Belarusian nuclear exercises, the former U.S. commander in Europe said they are part of information operations. At the same time, he acknowledged that the threat cannot be ignored, as Russia does possess thousands of nuclear warheads and has no moral constraints, “they clearly don’t care how many innocent people die.”
Ben Hodges also believes that Vladimir Putin does not currently feel cornered. However, in the West there are voices calling for giving him a “way out.”
“He has a way out: he can withdraw his troops. It is not the West’s job to give him a way to escape from the mess he created and the damage he has done. I believe the West should now be committed to helping Ukraine defeat Russia, which means returning to the 1991 borders,” the retired general stated.
He is convinced that Putin has no incentive to stop, as there is no retirement plan for him—he knows he would be killed: he has destroyed Russia, its reputation, and its own army; he has pushed away most buyers of Russian oil and gas. Therefore, the war is necessary for him to stay in power.
In his view, those responsible for war crimes against Ukraine should also not feel safe.
“Every Russian general in the chain of command responsible for war crimes or anything else they have done will spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulder… because they know that Ukrainian intelligence is somewhere nearby,” he said, referring to Ukrainian Defence Intelligence.
