Russia seeks to slow down military aid to Ukraine with nuclear blackmail 

This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

"The Kremlin very probably is weaponizing fears of nuclear escalation and the suspension of New START in hopes of deterring Western support for Ukraine and slowing down pledged Western military aid transfers. The Kremlin remains extremely unlikely to use nuclear weapons but routinely makes low-credibility threats of nuclear escalation in an effort to intimidate the West and appeal to its ultranationalist base, as ISW has previously reported," the experts said.

The report recalled that on March 2, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi, India.

The US Secretary of State said that he urged Lavrov to cancel Russia's February 28 suspension of New START, which imposes limits on the number of Russian and American intercontinental nuclear weapons. In particular, Antony Blinken expressed the US readiness to cooperate with Russia on strategic nuclear arms control regardless of the state of the war in Ukraine or US-Russian relations.

"Russian officials are highly unlikely to pursue meaningful discussions to restore New START, however," ISW summarized.

• On February 21, Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had decided to suspend its participation in the New START. He also ordered the Russian military to prepare for nuclear weapons tests.

• The NATO Secretary General said that the Alliance was disappointed by Russia's announcement and urged it to reconsider its decision.

• In a joint statement, representatives of the G7 member states said they were not afraid of Putin’s nuclear threats and would continue to support Ukraine.

• The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also reacted and stated that Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the New START with the US is another provocative step by the aggressor state.

• The EU called on Russia to return to the nuclear deal.

• Subsequently, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev accused the US of wanting to destroy Russia and once again resorted to nuclear weapons threats.