Nuclear weapons and intervention in Moldova: Putin raises the war ante after the summit of Ukraine's allies

Putin continues to create tension between Russia and the European Union following the statements from the French government, which did not want to rule out the presence of the military on Ukrainian soil as a way to deter and stop Russia.

The Russian president hinted that Western countries are in danger of provoking a nuclear war because of their involvement in the Ukrainian scenario. According to Putin, Western leaders fail to understand how dangerous this could be. These statements were made on Thursday in front of members of the State Duma, the Russian parliament, during his presidential address.

Context is crucial. Russia managed to advance on the eastern Ukrainian front. Putin claims that taking control of Avdiivka was a great achievement. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Biden administration has not come to a consensus on whether to keep up with sending aid to Ukraine in its war effort.

Russian nuclear alert

This week, the French government engaged in a diplomatic clash with Russia, suggesting that more action must be taken in Ukraine to stop Russia. Among these measures, Emmanuel Macron did not want to rule out the mobilization of soldiers in Ukraine, for non-war tasks, although with a deterrent effect. Russia was forceful and blunt with its response about what the presence of European or NATO troops in Ukraine would mean: an open confrontation.

"(Ukraine's allies) talked about the possibility of sending NATO military contingents to Ukraine (...) But now the consequences for potential interventions will be much more tragic," Putin declared before the senior staff of the Russian State in Moscow during his speech. "They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization," he added, according to AFP.

Threat to intervene in Transnistria

Western countries disengaged from France's suggestions, but this did not stop the escalation of tension that could affect European borders. Following the French statements, Putin suggested that Russia should intervene in the separatist region of Transnistria, in Moldova.

In this European country, located west of Ukraine, the separatist authorities, which seek to be autonomous with the help of Russia, asked the Putin regime for protection since they are facing pressure from the Moldovan government, backed by the European Union.

In response to the authorities' request, the Kremlin announced that it considered "protecting" the "compatriots" of Transnistria, whom it considers Russians, to be one of its "priorities" and that it would "carefully examine" the socialist enclave's request.

The separatist region of Transnistria is currently a dangerous time bomb for Europe. There are at least 1,500 Russian soldiers stationed there, on an alleged peacekeeping mission. The enclave held an independence referendum with little international or legal validity, promoted by Soviet nostalgia. When the war broke out in Ukraine, some rockets were fired from the enclave against the Ukrainian forces.