European fear of nuclear weapons only encourages Russia — national security expert Varchenko

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"The topic of Russia's potential use of nuclear weapons has been a recurring concern, and I believe that the more the world fears the prospect of such weapons being deployed, the greater the likelihood that Russia will resort to them. This is how the Putin regime works, like any totalitarian regime, which realizes that it, like a trapped rat, cannot stop. But when he sees fear in the eyes of his potential victim, he naturally rushes in with more aggression. As long as it does not see this fear, it is ready to back down and retreat. The more Europe demonstrates fear of nuclear weapons, the closer Russia is to using them. This is a paradox," the national security expert said.

According to him, world should not be afraid and understand that the use of nuclear weapons is acceptable for the crazy Russian policy today, they are creating an atmosphere in Russia that makes it possible.

According to him, rather than succumbing to fear, it should be recognized that the current erratic Russian policy deems the use of nuclear weapons as acceptable. The prevailing atmosphere in Russia that also fosters such inclinations.

"We can explain through rational arguments that firstly it will be the death of Russia itself. We know that the deterrents are the countries that Russia considers its partners, namely India and China, which have stated that the use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable. Obviously, this restrains the Kremlin from escalating this aggression, but from time to time they repeat nuclear threats because they want to see fear in the eyes of Ukrainians and the entire civilized world. I assume that for Russia, the use of some elements of nuclear blackmail may be a last resort. I hope that the civilized world is sending quite clear signals to Russia and demonstrating its readiness not only in words but also in deeds that any military potential of Russia will be destroyed if it crosses the "red line." As long as the world does not pay attention to these "red lines," it is able to contain Putin's aggression. As soon as it begins to absolutize these lines, we see that Putin is moving to more and more aggression," Ivan Varchenko summarized.

• Earlier, Putin said that Russia has modern nuclear weapons and is ready for a nuclear war from a military and technical point of view.
• President Biden is aware of Putin's statements about nuclear weapons, which he uses to blackmail the West, but the United States currently sees no signs that Russia is preparing to use such weapons, particularly in Ukraine.
• On March 16, Western intelligence officially confirmed for the first time that Russia had deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
• On March 23, the Vice President of the Russian State Duma threatened Paris with a nuclear strike. Macron said he was surprised by the "nervousness and intemperance of Russian officials."