If Russia crosses red line with nuclear weapons, other countries will not stand aside - diplomat Chaly

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

“I look closely at these threats not so much in terms of today's statements as in terms of concrete actions. That is, I understand that without testing existing nuclear weapons, such as tactical nuclear weapons, it is impossible to move forward. First, there must be a test that can be conducted without an explosion, and I won't go into details here, but there is an option that the Americans (as I understand it) have recently used,” Chaly recalled.

According to him, the Russians can indeed conduct nuclear weapons tests, but the last time it happened was in 1996.

“Without this, it is impossible to move forward, so there are certain steps that precede any threats. We are now at the stage of escalation of nuclear threats, violation of the deterrence system, violation of the international legal system, withdrawal of major players from treaties, Russia's withdrawal from the treaty or withdrawal of its position on the nuclear test treaty, and others. We see that unfortunately Pandora's box, which they have already opened, is quickly leading many countries to escalate. And to say that countries do not think about it - I think about two dozen of those countries will be ready to legalize their nuclear status very quickly, like India, Pakistan or Israel,” said the head of the board of the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center.

The diplomat believes that nuclear threats should be responded to only after the enemy's actions.

“In my opinion today, if Russia crosses this red line, the consequence will be an escalation, so to speak, a very sharp rise in the stakes and the end of Russia's war against Ukraine. That's for sure, because then the United States and other countries will not be able to stand aside, they will have to participate with conventional weapons, to strike, because they will not allow further escalation by Russia, and the US strategic nuclear weapons are now much more powerful than Russia's,” he said.

Chaly added that Russia probably does not even know the condition of its nuclear warheads: “I do not believe that we are now right before the realization of the threats, but I can agree that, unfortunately, escalation in this area is taking place.”

• On May 10, it was reported that facilities that could potentially store nuclear weapons were being built in the city of Osipovichi in the Republic of Belarus, located about 190 km from the Ukrainian border.

• As of May 17, the United States has not recorded any signs that Russia may use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, but it continues to closely monitor the actions of the occupiers.  

• On May 21, it became known that the Russian aggressor began the first stage of the exercise in the southern military district of the Russian Federation with practical training and use of tactical nuclear weapons.