Biden: If Putin has no intent to use nuclear weapons, ‘why does he keep talking about it?’
Uk.YahooOct 28, 2022
Day 247 Round Up: World Faces Most Dangerous Decade Since WWII, Says Putin
Photo: Reuters [via Al Jazeera]
The Facts
In a wide-ranging address on Thursday, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin said that the world is facing the most dangerous decade since World War II as Western elites scramble to prevent their crumbling grip on global dominance.
"The historical period of the West’s undivided dominance over world affairs is coming to an end," Putin told the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow, a conference of international policy experts. "We are standing at a historical frontier: Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important decade since the end of World War II."
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
If Putin has no intention of using nuclear weapons, why does he keep threatening to do so? The Kremlin's aggressive tact is raising tensions between Russia and the West at the cost of the security and safety of innocent civilians in Ukraine. The Putin regime must give up this unwinnable war to protect itself and the rest of Europe.
Pro-Russia narrative
Russia's doctrine on nuclear weapons is clear: they can only be used in retaliation to a first strike. Despite accusations that Moscow's comments are incendiary, they have in fact been measured responses to inflammatory remarks made by Western leaders.
Nerd narrative
There's a 4% chance that at least one nuclear weapon will be detonated in Ukraine Before 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
