The West has warned that nuclear threats by Vladimir Putin should be taken seriously but that they will not be intimated with NATO allies scheduled to carry out a joint nuclear deterrence exercise next month.
The Russian President has said he is willing to use "all means available" to protect Russian territories, including the four parts of Ukraine that were illegally annexed earlier this month following sham referendums.
In Europe, the threat is deemed "serious" by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen."And at the same time, as with any of his quotes, we're not being blackmailed by what he says.
We have a very clear stance on how we want to proceed," she stressed last week.According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia owns 5,977 nuclear warheads — the highest tally in the world although about 1,500 are retired warheads awaiting dismantlement.Some 1,588 are deployed which means they have been placed on missiles or are located on bases with operational forces.