Russian President Vladimir
Putin is once again
raising the specter of nuclear weapons.
Putin says Russia could use them
in response to threats.
Let's bring in CNN contributor
and former Moscow
bureau chief Jill Dougherty.
She's an adjunct professor
at Georgetown University.
Jill, good to have you.
These deployment
of these tactical nuclear weapons
to Belarus.
Secretary Blinken says
that the US sees no evidence
that or any indication
that the Russians intend to use them.
So what is the message
Putin's trying to send
by simply moving them to Belarus?
Well, he's been doing this step by step
so remember back in March,
they began to talk about this.
We will be putting tactical
nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Then they said,
but we have to build the shelters
for them, the buildings for them.
Then that took another month.
So this is eking out, you know, slowly.
The message
is, of course,
that the West and NATO and Ukraine
should be very afraid that
Russia will use nuclear weapons.
And it's a tactic
that is less and less effective I think,
because the assessment
by the United States really is
that Putin
does not want to start a nuclear war.
That said,
you can't eliminate the possibility
that they might use
tactical nuclear weapons.
So, you know, looking at this speech
by President Putin was actually a speech
and then kind of a Q&A
with a person and analysts.
You really have to,
I think, interpret him in the way
he has to be interpreted,
which is, in my opinion,
he's kind of like the arsonist,
the pyromaniac who starts a fire
and then puts out his own fire.
So he raises the ante
saying, well, you know,
we could use nuclear weapons,
the big ones,
if necessary, to protect Russia.
However, there is no need.
So this is all you know,
he doesn't say anything,
just for the fun of it.
I think this is definitely his message
to frighten the West.
And we should remember,
all of this is his fire, right?
This war is his fire
that he started back
in February of last year.
So let me ask you about
bring in a bit of Fred's reporting.
We're seeing that the Ukrainians
are claiming
some advances in this counter-offensive
that has been talked up
for so many months now.
But it's not overwhelming the Russians.
Putin says that it has no chance.
Is that at all part of this nuclear
weapon conversation,
even including the context
you added about his kind of forecasting
these moves over the last several months?
Yes, I think
you're right
that there are probably two ways
that he's using this.
Number one, they're not winning we are.
Or at least we Russia.
He is
Clinton is holding off the Ukrainians.
And then from the nuclear perspective,
he's saying we've got these weapons,
but we really don't need to use them.
So because, you know,
we're not losing the war.
So I think, again, he's using it
for a couple of different reasons.
And don't forget that some of this
is talking to his own people.
You know,
one phrase that he used in that Q&A
with the with
the expert was a pretty off-color
Russian expression, which
I guess I could use.
I are.
But it's basically, you know, screw them.
And it was that strong.
He used it.
And that reminded me
of back in the Chechen war.
He used a pretty obscene
description
for what
he was going to do to terrorists.
That was very popular
in the beginning of early Putin.
So when he uses these Tough-Guy
phrases, kind of off color, tough,
he also sending a message to these people
that I'm not going to be pushed around.
I mean, control.
And don't forget,
the war is not going the way he expected.
And there is more criticism
of how he's been conducting
the war domestically.
I appreciate your concern of the audience
and screw them,
but I think they're okay with that.
That wasn't too offensive at this hour.
Let me talk about
the Putin also said of the leopard tanks
and all of the weapons
that are coming in to support
Ukraine broadly.
And, of course,
during this counter offensive,
he said if they are based abroad
but used in fighting,
we'll see how to hit them
and where we can hit
those means
that are used against us in fighting.
You pointed out
that Putin does not want a nuclear war.
He also doesn't want a war with Naito.
Is this more bluster?
Is there any scenario
in which you can envision Russian
troops hitting
assets
based in
Poland, in Germany, in other countries
that are allocated for Ukraine,
This was to me
the most concerning thing that he said
nukes are serious,
but this really was
because what he was saying,
I think could
and I looked at what he said in Russian.
It could apply to the tanks
or it could apply to F-16s
and other fighter jets
that are going into Ukraine
or will go into Ukraine.
So if he is saying, for instance,
that there are fighter jets
in Poland
or in the Baltics or someplace
Alito country,
and he is saying that he might
and he was very unclear.
He said,
we will see what we will do,
but that is a threat
that he would
attack NATO country
to destroy those friends.
That's very serious
because that does start a war.
So, again, he's pushing the envelope He's
hinting he's
not he's not precise in what he's saying.
But it's another scare tactic.
Don't try this.
Otherwise, I could come
and he used the phrase,
the F-16s can burn, too,
just like the tanks.
So, again, we're upping the ante.