“The West must continue to signal that it has no intention of using nuclear threats to resolve the current crisis and that any attempts by Russia to do so are unacceptable,” argues Barack Obama’s energy secretary in a guest essay
of the leaders of America, Russia, China, France and Britain. It affirmed that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” and committed those countries to work towards disarmament and the reduction of nuclear risks. Nearly two months later, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin unleashed a brutal, unjustified attack on Ukraine unlike anything in Europe since the second world war.
Russia faces no threat of attack, let alone nuclear attack from America, Britain, France, or NATO. While President Joe Biden and NATO have made clear that they would respond to any Russian attack on a NATO member, Ukraine is not a member of the alliance. And America and NATO have stated flatly that they will not engage Russia on Ukrainian territory. Neither America nor its allies want a war—conventional or nuclear—with Russia.
Mr Putin’s frustration is reportedly growing with Ukraine’s resistance. The West is supporting Ukraine with military and humanitarian assistance while pressuring Russia with unprecedented economic sanctions. As Mr Putin grows angry and impatient, the risks of a broader conflict grow. Failing to achieve a quick or decisive victory, Mr Putin may escalate atrocities against Ukrainian civil society and continue his nuclear sabre rattling.
When America and the Soviet Union were “eyeball to eyeball” opposing one another with nuclear threats during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Presidents Khrushchev and Kennedy emerged with an even greater understanding of the risks of nuclear use, particularly during a crisis.
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