Would Vladimir Putin actually use nuclear weapons?

Matthew Harries, a nuclear specialist with the RUSI thinktank, said the statements were a warning of a different sort. It was, in the first instance, simple intimidation – “we can hurt you, and fighting us is dangerous” – and a reminder to the west, which is increasingly arming the Ukrainians, not to go too far. “It could be Russia is planning a brutal escalation in Ukraine and this is a ‘keep out’ warning to the west,” he said.