I ran Nato. Putin’s nuclear threat is real, but this is how to stop him
A few months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war had become so dangerous that Jens Stoltenberg went to bed fearing he would be woken by these horrifying words: Vladimir Putin has launched a nuclear attack. As secretary general of Nato, it would have been his job to consult the US President, the UK prime minister and other allied leaders to agree a collective response. The idea of nuclear conflict had seemed unthinkable since the end of the Cold War. But based on intelligence Nato received in autumn 2022, it was genuinely “an option that was considered” by the Kremlin, says Stoltenberg. Official assessments at the time showed that the likelihood of a nuclear weapon being used rose to between 10 and 25 per cent. Putin was feeling more desperate as Ukraine was pushing back its invaders and Nato was providing weapons. The concern was over Putin using “tactical” nuclear weapons. They are designed to eliminate troops on a battlefield, rather than destroy whole cities. But they remain devastating – capable of annihilating thousands of people instantly and unleashing radiation that could kill many others in following years. “Nato sent a very strong message,” says Stoltenberg. “The …
