Russia has warned NATO that it could use nuclear weapons if the alliance attempts to isolate the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. President Vladimir Putin has now said that if Russian territory comes under direct attack, the use of “all types of weapons” at Moscow’s disposal would immediately be on the agenda.
Kaliningrad is heavily militarized but geographically isolated, sitting on the Baltic Sea between NATO members Poland and Lithuania. Its location makes it strategically valuable to Russia, and potentially vulnerable in any direct confrontation with NATO.
Heather Williams, director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins DW to examine how seriously NATO should take Moscow’s latest warning, whether nuclear threats have become an effective tool of Russian deterrence, and how an unintended incident around Kaliningrad could escalate into a much larger confrontation.
#dwcurrentaffairs
00:00 Russia raises nuclear threat over Kaliningrad
01:08 Why Kaliningrad matters
01:31 Suwalki Gap: NATO’s vulnerable link
02:07 EU: “We will not fall for Russian trap”
02:25 Interview Heather Williams
02:56 Is Russia’s warning different from previous threats?
05:33 What’s behind Moscow’s claim that NATO is preparing a blockade
06:40 Does Putin’s nuclear blackmail work because the West is too cautious?
08:25 Can incidents at sea turn into a conflict neither NATO nor Russia intends?
09:57 Reliability of contacts between NATO and Russia
11:25 If Moscow feared losing Kaliningrad in a conventional war, would the use of nuclear weapons become more tempting?
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