President Vladimir Putin, who rules the world's biggest nuclear power, has repeatedly cautioned the West that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response. Will he use nuclear weapons and how might the United States and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance respond?
President Vladimir Putin, who rules the world's biggest nuclear power, has repeatedly cautioned the West that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response.
Russia's nuclear doctrine allows for a nuclear strike after "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened." Burns, though, said U.S. intelligence had no "practical evidence" that Putin was moving towards using tactical nuclear weapons imminently.No Russian official has called for a strategic nuclear weapons strike with the weapons that were designed to destroy cities in the United States, Russia, Europe and Asia.
Although Russia has specialized nuclear forces trained to fight in such an apocalyptic battlefield, it is unclear how its army of regular troops, mercenaries, drafted reservists and local militias would cope.As the dominant global superpower, the United States would in effect decide the response to any Russian nuclear strike.
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