No nuclear attack has been launched in the world by August 9, 1945 - the destruction of Nagasaki, three days after Hiroshima was wiped off the map. In October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world was close to nuclear terror. So today, after nearly 80 years of "dissuasion", can Vladimir Putin push the red button of the apocalypse? This is what he wants you to believe, writes the French regional publication La Depeche du Midi.
At the moment, everything is a matter of time in the protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In the US, within a few weeks, the Trump administration will replace that of Joe Biden. And although the man in the orange feather promised to achieve peace in 24 hours, no one knows what this new president will do. And will he really do what he said?
No doubt Donald Trump believes that if we give Putin the Donbass and Crimea, the Kremlin monster will pull out his tanks with a smile. But the game is not necessarily equal. Trump is a poker player. He can bet everything and bluff at the same time. Putin is a chess player who hides his moves. As in the war in Ukraine, he had arranged his pawns, but no one had seen him...
However, it is not certain that a share of the Ukrainian pie will reach Vladimir Putin. According to many observers, what he wants is one way or another to keep Ukraine completely under his control. Even if the borders are smoothed, Putin would hardly accept, right on the edge of his empire, a democracy that has always been oriented towards Europe, NATO, in any case, not towards the former "big brother".
No doubt sensing that Moscow will not budge no matter what, Washington has just given Kiev permission to use its long-range weapons simply to contain the Russian offensive machine. Therefore, Putin notes that his intimidation had no effect. So, once again, as since the beginning of the conflict, he brandishes nuclear weapons. But should we believe him?
Even with "tactical" a strike limited to a Ukrainian city, for example, Putin would be taking a huge risk. Also, he is not suicidal, he follows logic and uses all possible means, intimidation being one of them. He knows that any nuclear attack will automatically trigger an apocalypse. But behind this threat we must first of all understand that he will never release his prey alone.
After Hiroshima, Albert Camus wrote in "Struggle": "This is no longer a prayer, but an order that must pass from the people to the governments, an order to choose definitively between hell and reason."
But does Putin listen to his people?