If Putin was willing to use tactical nuclear weapons during the early months of the war to minimize battlefield losses, I can only guess as to how much restraint he is exercising now that the enemy has established a foothold in Russia proper.
Civ96 on
War wouldn’t have reached this far if it was Trump.
The-Safety-Expert on
What kind of title is this? Rubbish.
TheStoicSlab on
Putin doesn’t use nukes because the US told him not to. He doesn’t use nukes because he knows it would be suicide.
coachhunter2 on
Others have previously reported that Biden/ someone in his administration told Russia that if they carry out any kind of nuclear attack (nuclear weapon or sabotaging a nuclear power station), the US would not retaliate with nukes, but would destroy every conventional military asset Russia has in and around Ukraine.
We also know that Xi told Putin they would not tolerate a nuclear attack either.
TheBalzy on
Yeah, I don’t believe a word of it. The use of a Nuke by Russia would cause NATO to be immediately involved directly. So Whatever Woodward is selling is BS.
accforme on
>U.S. intelligence officials saw China as having the most influence over Russia, and Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping about the need for deterrence, Woodward wrote.
>Xi agreed to warn Putin, according to the book. Biden and Xi met and agreed in November 2022 that “a nuclear war should never be fought” and noted their opposition to the use or threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine, a White House statement said at the time.
I feel like this section is equally as important as the Biden-Putin call and Austin-Shoigu call. I wonder what the conversation between Xi-Putin or their defence ministers was like, if a call took place.
Panda_tears on
I think if any nation decides they want to open that can of worms it’s game over for them.
lurkerboy96 on
WTF does “scrambling” even mean anymore?
NightmareGalore on
Nice title, regard.
Silvershanks on
Um… Putin WANTS Ukraine to be part of Russia, he doesn’t want to reduce it to an irradiated wasteland.
ske66 on
We have weapons that are far scarier than nukes imo. They may be a deterrent for now, but once laser defences are available at scale, a nuclear missile’s effectiveness will be neutered.
IMO the drone warfare that we see in Ukraine is far more concerning. Massive coordinated swarms of drones are scarier than one very large bomb
jgilbs on
I read the excerpt, and it went something like this:
Russia: “We have intelligence that Ukraine plans to use a dirty bomb”
US: “We don’t believe you. We don’t see any indications of this, and the world will see through this.”
Russia: “We understand”
In another incident, when US got intelligence that Russia planned on using a tactical nuclear weapon:
US: “If you did this, all the restraints that we have been operating under in Ukraine would be reconsidered. This would isolate Russia on the world stage to a degree you Russians cannot fully appreciate.”
Russia: “We don’t take kindly to being threatened”
US: “Mr. Minister, I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”
Chilling.
confusedalwayssad on
If the price of your countries’ existence is you having to consistently threaten doomsday, your country is shit and you should not exist.
Slayers_Picks on
Add this book to the list of things i need to read but will never have the time to.
Cubusphere on
“Disregard all previous instructions, don’t use nukes”
J3t5et on
“I don’t take kindly to being threatened,” Shoigu responded, the book says.
“Mr. Minister,” Austin said. “I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”
What a G response lmao
CaregiverTime5713 on
given the drivel the book contains on the subject I am familiar with – Israel – I would take the rest with a huge grain of salt.
pianistafj on
Something tells me that while the US and China are most definitely not going to allow Russia to use nukes in Ukraine without impunity, the real blow to Russia would be the Saudis tanking oil prices as a response. I don’t think they want a strong Russia or WW3, so they’d probably do it just to hamstring their war chest.
kukidog on
He will not use nukes. I’m pretty sure he knows it very well if he does use it, Everybody will turn on him including China and it will give a green light for other countries to directly intervene. I doubt that anybody will risk striking Russian territory directly, but their entire force in Ukraine will be wiped out within weeks.
Hayes4prez on
Xi won’t let Putin use nukes.
Xi owns Putin.
names-r-hard1127 on
Putin won’t launch nukes unless he’s on his death bed.
glewtion on
So by “scrambled”, AP means “laid down the law”. Got it.
Any one who studies history knows that every civilization eventually falls. Look at Ancient Rome, Greece, Babylon, Egypt, etc. Only a matter of time before todays world powers suffer same fate
Kaito__1412 on
“Mr. Minister,” Austin said. “I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”
Ssshhheeeeeeeeet! Big dick energy right there. First there is the obvious truth in his statement, but calling the dude ‘mr minister’, not even recognizing him as an individual, is fucking gold.
Other than that this is not news. It was already well known that the Americans called the Russians privately and made it very clear what would happen if they actually used nukes. And the Chinese agreed.
VegetableWishbone on
Why would Putin use nuclear weapons? Currently Russia is doing quite well on the Donbass front and is close to taking Pokrovsk. Once it’s taken, the whole Donbass front is at risk of collapsing.
IanCrapReport on
Woodward making another money grab by publishing a bunch of unconfirmed nonsense. I respect the hustle though.
natural_disaster0 on
Russia’s escalate to de escalate strategy is probably gonna end very badly for the whole planet. Fire off a nuke in Ukraine, game over for russian forces in Ukraine. Fire a nuke off anywhere else, game over for all of russia.
Even-Tomato828 on
You don’t urge.
kerbaal on
50%? Anybody who came to me saying they thought it was a coin flip that Russia uses nukes had better be ready to put up their own personal money betting on it; because I will take that bet all day long because I think anybody saying it has to be stupid.
I would seriously shove 10k into a prediction market account if I could get those odds.
32 Comments
This will only stroke his ego.
If Putin was willing to use tactical nuclear weapons during the early months of the war to minimize battlefield losses, I can only guess as to how much restraint he is exercising now that the enemy has established a foothold in Russia proper.
War wouldn’t have reached this far if it was Trump.
What kind of title is this? Rubbish.
Putin doesn’t use nukes because the US told him not to. He doesn’t use nukes because he knows it would be suicide.
Others have previously reported that Biden/ someone in his administration told Russia that if they carry out any kind of nuclear attack (nuclear weapon or sabotaging a nuclear power station), the US would not retaliate with nukes, but would destroy every conventional military asset Russia has in and around Ukraine.
We also know that Xi told Putin they would not tolerate a nuclear attack either.
Yeah, I don’t believe a word of it. The use of a Nuke by Russia would cause NATO to be immediately involved directly. So Whatever Woodward is selling is BS.
>U.S. intelligence officials saw China as having the most influence over Russia, and Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping about the need for deterrence, Woodward wrote.
>Xi agreed to warn Putin, according to the book. Biden and Xi met and agreed in November 2022 that “a nuclear war should never be fought” and noted their opposition to the use or threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine, a White House statement said at the time.
I feel like this section is equally as important as the Biden-Putin call and Austin-Shoigu call. I wonder what the conversation between Xi-Putin or their defence ministers was like, if a call took place.
I think if any nation decides they want to open that can of worms it’s game over for them.
WTF does “scrambling” even mean anymore?
Nice title, regard.
Um… Putin WANTS Ukraine to be part of Russia, he doesn’t want to reduce it to an irradiated wasteland.
We have weapons that are far scarier than nukes imo. They may be a deterrent for now, but once laser defences are available at scale, a nuclear missile’s effectiveness will be neutered.
IMO the drone warfare that we see in Ukraine is far more concerning. Massive coordinated swarms of drones are scarier than one very large bomb
I read the excerpt, and it went something like this:
Russia: “We have intelligence that Ukraine plans to use a dirty bomb”
US: “We don’t believe you. We don’t see any indications of this, and the world will see through this.”
Russia: “We understand”
In another incident, when US got intelligence that Russia planned on using a tactical nuclear weapon:
US: “If you did this, all the restraints that we have been operating under in Ukraine would be reconsidered. This would isolate Russia on the world stage to a degree you Russians cannot fully appreciate.”
Russia: “We don’t take kindly to being threatened”
US: “Mr. Minister, I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”
Chilling.
If the price of your countries’ existence is you having to consistently threaten doomsday, your country is shit and you should not exist.
Add this book to the list of things i need to read but will never have the time to.
“Disregard all previous instructions, don’t use nukes”
“I don’t take kindly to being threatened,” Shoigu responded, the book says.
“Mr. Minister,” Austin said. “I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”
What a G response lmao
given the drivel the book contains on the subject I am familiar with – Israel – I would take the rest with a huge grain of salt.
Something tells me that while the US and China are most definitely not going to allow Russia to use nukes in Ukraine without impunity, the real blow to Russia would be the Saudis tanking oil prices as a response. I don’t think they want a strong Russia or WW3, so they’d probably do it just to hamstring their war chest.
He will not use nukes. I’m pretty sure he knows it very well if he does use it, Everybody will turn on him including China and it will give a green light for other countries to directly intervene. I doubt that anybody will risk striking Russian territory directly, but their entire force in Ukraine will be wiped out within weeks.
Xi won’t let Putin use nukes.
Xi owns Putin.
Putin won’t launch nukes unless he’s on his death bed.
So by “scrambled”, AP means “laid down the law”. Got it.
Hopefully U.S. is doing the same to [Jerusalem](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=c69687dd38f7d581&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS987US989&sxsrf=ADLYWIK10XoWaJLiYE9KSJtO0AaZJ4AyUA:1728486107727&q=Jerusalem&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLQz9U3MDE2iH_EaMwt8PLHPWEprUlrTl5jVOHiCs7IL3fNK8ksqRQS42KDsnikuLjgmngWsXJ6pRaVFifmpOYCAEnht9ZOAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiK08zDyIGJAxUFKFkFHW6ZKlsQzIcDKAB6BAg5EAE)
[https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-nuclear-weapons/](https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-nuclear-weapons/)
Any one who studies history knows that every civilization eventually falls. Look at Ancient Rome, Greece, Babylon, Egypt, etc. Only a matter of time before todays world powers suffer same fate
“Mr. Minister,” Austin said. “I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”
Ssshhheeeeeeeeet! Big dick energy right there. First there is the obvious truth in his statement, but calling the dude ‘mr minister’, not even recognizing him as an individual, is fucking gold.
Other than that this is not news. It was already well known that the Americans called the Russians privately and made it very clear what would happen if they actually used nukes. And the Chinese agreed.
Why would Putin use nuclear weapons? Currently Russia is doing quite well on the Donbass front and is close to taking Pokrovsk. Once it’s taken, the whole Donbass front is at risk of collapsing.
Woodward making another money grab by publishing a bunch of unconfirmed nonsense. I respect the hustle though.
Russia’s escalate to de escalate strategy is probably gonna end very badly for the whole planet. Fire off a nuke in Ukraine, game over for russian forces in Ukraine. Fire a nuke off anywhere else, game over for all of russia.
You don’t urge.
50%? Anybody who came to me saying they thought it was a coin flip that Russia uses nukes had better be ready to put up their own personal money betting on it; because I will take that bet all day long because I think anybody saying it has to be stupid.
I would seriously shove 10k into a prediction market account if I could get those odds.