Putin ups tensions over Ukraine, suspending START nuke pact


Despite using it to try to defend his unprovoked war of aggression, Putin's address repeated a litany of disproven grievances against the US and NATO while failing to take any responsibility for his illegal actions in Ukraine. The speech has not helped his case on the international stage.
As Putin rightly highlighted, Russia tried to engage the US and NATO on security guarantees before the conflict started — the efforts were ignored and followed by a further buildup of NATO presence on Russia's borders. The blame for this conflict lies with the West for flagrantly posing an unacceptable security risk that prompted a defensive military operation.
There's a 12% chance that there will be more than four deaths between Russia and NATO forces outside of Ukraine before July 1, 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.