London: Thanasis Gavos
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has downplayed concerns about the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia in the war in Ukraine if Russian forces suffer more casualties.
Asked by the new British news channel Talk TV on Tuesday night if he expects Vladimir Putin to consider the use of nuclear weapons, he answered in the negative.
“No, I do not expect that,” said Johnson. He explained that “the unbelievable thing about the ongoing conflict is that the vast majority of the Russian public supports Putin.”
Therefore, the British Prime Minister continued, the Russian President “has much more political room for maneuver inside Russia than this argument (about the use of nuclear weapons) would necessarily entail.”
He estimated that this margin of maneuver would allow President Putin to declare to the Russian people a “technical or military” victory, that is, the achievement of his goals in Donbas.
In the same vein, he added that “given the huge Russian support for what he is doing, given the ignorance of the Russian media about what is really happening in Ukraine, the paradox is that Putin has much more political space to back down, to withdraw.”
In the same interview, Boris Johnson said it was “very important” for the West “not to accept the way the Russians are trying to present what is happening in Ukraine.”
As he explained, Russia is trying to present the war as a conflict between itself and the West or NATO. “This is not what is happening,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of an exchange with the pro-Russian Victor Medvenchuk, who is being held in Kyiv by British Eden Aslin, who has been captured by the Russians fighting in the Ukrainian army, Mr Johnson said he did not want to advance decisions against the Ukrainians.
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