{"id":1443227,"date":"2022-04-18T09:14:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T13:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1443227"},"modified":"2022-04-18T09:14:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T13:14:41","slug":"former-russian-foreign-minister-putin-will-only-consider-using-nukes-if-he-feels-an-existential-threat-to-his-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-russian-foreign-minister-putin-will-only-consider-using-nukes-if-he-feels-an-existential-threat-to-his-regime\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Russian Foreign Minister: Putin Will Only Consider Using Nukes If He Feels an \u201cExistential Threat\u201d to His Regime"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-russian-foreign-minister-putin-will-only-consider-using-nukes-if-he-feels-an-existential-threat-to-his-regime%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1443227&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"featured featured-video video-ct\" data-v-13907676=\"\">\n<div class=\"contain\" data-v-13907676=\"\">\n<div class=\"info\" data-v-13907676=\"\">\n<div class=\"caption\" data-v-13907676=\"\">\n<h4 class=\"title\" data-v-13907676=\"\"><a href=\"http:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/6304168854001\" data-v-13907676=\"\">Why is Putin scared of NATO?<\/a><\/h4>\n<p data-v-13907676=\"\">Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Europe needs to commit to making NATO &#8216;strong&#8217; on &#8216;One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"speechkit-wrapper\" class=\"speechkit-wrapper\">\n<p><span class=\"label-bg\">NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/world-regions\/russia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Russian President<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/personalities\/vladimir-putin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vladimir Putin<\/a> would only consider nuclear weapons in the event he feels an &#8220;existential threat&#8221; to his country or regime, according to foreign policy experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">&#8220;They could be used, but in very, very specific situations,&#8221; former Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev told Fox News Digital. &#8220;If Russia or one of those countries really threatened in their hearts \u2013 existentially, that is \u2026 if NATO troops come to Moscow, then probably they will resort to nuclear weapons.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/live-news\/ukraine-russia-updates-04-17-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But there is no existential threat to Russia under the present circumstances,&#8221; Kozyrev said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Russia has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/russia-eastern-ukraine-ground-forces-stalled\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changed course over the past few weeks<\/a> after failing to take Kyiv despite a month-long campaign in northern Ukraine. The Russian military claimed to have achieved its phase one goal and would instead focus on securing the Donbas region \u2013 a move that some have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/mcfarland-russia-plan-d-after-failing-siege-kyiv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">labeled a &#8220;consolation prize&#8221;<\/a> to make up for the &#8220;sacrifice.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Brent Sadler suggested that Putin could use a tactical nuclear strike if Russia faced an &#8220;overwhelming military defeat&#8221; in Donbas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That might be the case where a tactical nuclear weapon might be considered to demonstrate resolve and basically reverse any trends going on in the Russian military,&#8221; Sadler said. &#8220;I don\u2019t see them using city killers, because that would definitely usher in World War III, and the assumption is if he does that he\u2019s attacking NATO.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/mike-pompeo-putin-finland-sweden-nato\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>MIKE POMPEO SLAMS PUTIN FOR CLAIM ABOUT FINLAND AND SWEDEN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Putin <a href=\"https:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/6303966383001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reiterated his nuclear threats<\/a> following Finland and Sweden\u2019s indication that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/sweden-nato-application-june-finland-assessment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">both may look to apply<\/a> for NATO membership in June when the current member nations meet in Madrid, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said that &#8220;all countries should be concerned&#8221; about Putin and his nuclear weapons threats.<\/p>\n<p>But Kozyrev, author of &#8220;The Firebird: The Elusive Fate of Russian Democracy,&#8221; said that it is &#8220;absolutely&#8221; a case of &#8220;barking&#8221; with &#8220;no way to bite&#8221; from the Russian leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The responsible military commanders will do everything to avoid such a scenario and to prevent the use of nuclear weapons unless they believe there is an existential threat to their motherland,&#8221; he stressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/ukraine-more-than-900-civilian-bodies-found-kyiv-region-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>UKRAINE: MORE THAN 900 CIVILIAN BODIES FOUND IN KYIV REGION, POLICE SAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Putin has at times treated NATO\u2019s very existence as an existential threat to Russia, but Kozyrev insisted that as long as Putin can maintain his regime, he will not do anything to threaten his position of power.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 767px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/640\/320\/AP22103003232721.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, April 12, 2022.\u00a0\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n      In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, April 12, 2022.\u00a0<br \/>\n      <span class=\"copyright\">(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Part of the difficulty in trying to predict Putin\u2019s potential moves is that the West continues to project its own thinking and logic onto Moscow, which Sadler said is a &#8220;real bad tendency&#8221; among western leaders.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For Putin, I think there is a tendency to mirror image by the United States,&#8221; Sadler explained. &#8220;We\u2019re getting better by engagement, and the Ukrainian people are helping us understand better, but there\u2019s a real danger there.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/mariupol-russia-forced-service-labor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>MARIUPOL WARNS RUSSIA IS PREPARING TO SHUT DOWN CITY TO \u2018FILTER\u2019 ALL MEN FOR FORCED SERVICE, LABOR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And it\u2019s hard now because Putin has isolated himself, largely, and he\u2019s only engaging with a very trusted group of advisors,&#8221; he added, saying Putin could make unanticipated calculations from the western perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Frederick Kagan, Director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, went a step further to say that Putin operates in a &#8220;bounded rationality,&#8221; which he equated to talking about &#8220;in-universe&#8221; explanations for movies or TV shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There\u2019s definitely a fictional universe in which Putin is operating, and he has in-universe explanations for what he\u2019s doing,&#8221; Kagan said. &#8220;And that\u2019s a problem because it\u2019s clearly not the case he believes everything the Kremlin says, which is what\u2019s tricky about this.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/apps-products?pid=AppArticleLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kagan said the U.S. operated under this same framework during the Cold War and that officials at that time were more aware that the Russians operated on a different logical track than the West did.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We know it\u2019s not the real world \u2013 that\u2019s clear: he\u2019s not making decisions that are rational in the real world, but we also know it\u2019s not the universe of fiction the Kremlin spins,&#8221; Kagan added. &#8220;It\u2019s closer to the real world than that, but how close to the real world is hard to say.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is Putin scared of NATO? Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Europe needs to commit to making NATO &#8216;strong&#8217; on &#8216;One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.&#8217;NEWYou can<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1443227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}