ORF journalist Christian Wehrschütz speaks of Russia’s “signs of weakness” in Ukraine and believes the danger of a nuclear attack is still real.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday denied plans to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine: “Nobody in Russia is thinking about using nuclear weapons, or even the idea of using them.” Whatever the outcome of the “special military operation” in Ukraine, as Russia officially calls a war of aggression, that will not be grounds for the use of nuclear weapons, he said. These would only become active if there was a “threat to Russia’s existence”.
Read more: Day 34 of the war in Ukraine – the live-ticker
Statements that sound alarms for ORF journalist Christian Wehrschütz, who is still in the war zone in the city of Poltava. “That doesn’t sound reassuring at all,” Wehrschütz said on Tuesday in the Ö1’s “Morgenjournal”. After all, the question was how to define a “threat to Russia’s existence.” Russian President Vladimir Putin will single-handedly interpret this with two generals who “push the button” or “turn the key” to start nuclear war.
That’s why you shouldn’t believe anything in Putin
Do Russian guarantees count for nothing? Not much, according to Wehrschütz, because officially, according to Moscow, there is not even a war going on in Ukraine, and even with the invasion of Crimea, such a war was vehemently denied. Wehrschütz criticizes the ongoing negotiations between Ukraine and Russia: there is almost no information on what is being negotiated now and Russia has failed to achieve military successes for its own satisfaction to reach a treaty.
So far, Russia has occupied about 22% of Ukrainian territory, and there is no talk of division there because Putin has failed to show any success in Ukrainian cities. Moscow has renounced the “denazification” of Ukraine – “whatever that means” – the question now is what Ukraine can offer and what Russia can accept. However, Ukraine should not expect to be able to recapture Russian-occupied areas, Russia, for its part, has suffered such high losses that mercenaries should be used as a “sign of weakness”. What could ultimately threaten: a Ukrainian cession of territory to Russia, which would stretch from Kharkiv to Odessa and become a “New Russia”.
Rfi time of the navigation account29.03.2022, 07:29| Act: 03/29/2022, 07:29