BRUSSELS – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons against NATO is “deeply concerning” but appears to be aimed at intimidation rather than warning of imminent risks, experts say.

Putin said on Wednesday that Russia was ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence were threatened, boasting that its nuclear arsenal was “much more advanced” than that of the United States. It is the latest of many nuclear warnings he has issued since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He said in his State of the Union address last month that further Western involvement in the conflict would risk nuclear war.

Patricia Lewis, director of the international security program at Chatham House, said that while these threats were chilling, they did not have the expected impact on the West. “Putin is clearly trying to scare us, but the West is not scared – and that’s a good thing,” she told I. “But the idea of ​​using nuclear weapons seems crazy to people. You know he wouldn’t do something so stupid.”

Putin has repeatedly invoked the taboo on the use of nuclear weapons since 2022, but Dr Lewis said he was trying to break Western resolve, especially after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Nato troops could be sent to support Ukrainian forces.

“Putin may sense weakness or uncertainty in the West about the outcome and lack of enthusiasm over time. He thinks he can wait for the West, he thinks their attention span is limited and they will be distracted by the next thing , which could be Gaza now,” she said.

Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, with nearly 6,000 nuclear weapons, and can launch them from land-based missiles, submarines or aircraft.

At the outset of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin ordered the military to put Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert, and in September 2022 said he was prepared to use nuclear weapons while warning the West: “I’m not bluffing.”

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Putin threatened a missile strike in a phone call before the invasion and told him it would “just take a minute.”

British officials say that despite recent bellicose rhetoric, there is no sign that Russia is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in or around Ukraine. But the scaremongering has had an impact, with the head of Germany’s Space Command, Maj. Gen. Michael Trout, warning last month about the dangers of Russia exploding nuclear weapons in orbit and tech billionaire Elon Musk backtracking, citing nuclear risks. satellite support for Ukraine.

Florian Eblenkamp, ​​communications officer for the Geneva-based International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said that while nuclear threats have not emerged so far, they are still alarming.

“I think it’s safe to say that the risk of nuclear use has certainly increased since 2022,” he said. “Of course, it’s difficult to quantify this, but even a 1% risk is unacceptable – and it’s deeply worrying that the nuclear option is still on the table.”

Andrei Baklitsky, a senior fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva, said Putin often made nuclear threats when Ukraine’s Western allies discussed sending weapons to Kiev.

“We’ve seen him put forward red lines, but those red lines are pretty fluid,” he said. “So Russia said there should be no heavy weapons, missile systems, fighter jets, tanks, etc. These have been provided, but they have not caused a big reaction from Russia.”