Putin reportedly declared on February 27 that he has put Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces into “special combat readiness” as tensions flare between the country and Western NATO nations.
According to CBS, Putin initiated the high alert order amid “aggressive statements” by NATO and the slew of sanctions being imposed on the Russian economy.
During the days leading up to the invasion, Putin promised that he would not tolerate any interference from Western unions such as NATO; however, various nations proceeded to impose sanctions.
After the Sunday announcement, Putin stated, “Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country.”
What does Russia’s move on nuclear weapons mean for the world? As of Sunday, the move by Putin remains somewhat symbolic. It is not immediately clear what changes to the status of Russia’s nuclear forces Putin’s declaration implies.
As pointed out by a CBS review, many countries with nuclear weapons, such as the U.S., keep them armed and ready at all times. The U.S. does not have aircraft with armed nuclear weapons, but does keep land and sea-based nuclear missiles ready.
According to Hans Kristensen at the Federation of American Scientists, if Russia were to arm bomber planes with nuclear weapons, it would raise significantly more concern for Western nations.
The distinction comes from the consensus that, in contrast to having nuclear units on land and sea, aircraft with nuclear weapons are viewed as a method of attack rather than defense.
“This is really a pattern that we’ve seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression — and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism,” said White House Secretary Jen Psaki.
Russia faced consequences for its aggression this past weekend as European nations decided to shut the country out of the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system, an international banking association. BBC reported that NATO has sought to exclude only banks that will not affect large energy or transportation transactions.
Despite rising tensions throughout February, Ukraine has agreed to diplomatic talks with Russia.
The talks will take place on the Ukraine-Belarus border, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated. Belarus guaranteed that they would keep their military aircraft grounded while the Ukrainian diplomatic representative travels to the border.
The first of these talks took place on the last day of February, and more are expected in the coming days.
