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Vladimir Putin is continuing his saber-rattling, now escalating his threats to include the use of nuclear weapons. But will he go as far as to use a nuke? Probably not. National security expert Harry Kazianis says this is probably just an early negotiation tactic.
He said, "I think Russia is starting to understand that there needs to be some kind of negotiated settlement when it comes to Ukraine, and they're trying to hold out for the best terms possible."
Kazianis also said that this really isn't anything new for Putin, and that he's been doing this sort of thing for the last several years. He said, "It sounds bad, but it's not really out of the ordinary."
With the U.S. policy of mutually assured destruction still in place, Kazianis thinks that Putin understands the use of nukes against a NATO country is not in his interest, and he says even the use of a tactical battlefield nuke in Ukraine is unlikely.