Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine aren't a show of strength, but a 'show of weakness' that reflects its inability to advance and seize Ukrainian territory, said Kurt Volker, a distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.
, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, in what appeared to be a strategic move to disrupt a key supply route for Russian troops.
"We are going to see continued efforts by the Ukrainians to make sure that Russian forces deployed in Ukraine are unable to sustain themselves, and that they have a very difficult winter ... This lays the conditions for Ukraine to take back its territory later this year, and more next year." Volker said the possibility of Putin using nuclear weapons can never be ruled out, but he will have more to lose than gain.
Others have taken a similar view. Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commanding general for the U.S. Army in Europe, told CNBC earlier this month that although the nuclear threat is"absolutely a credible" one because Russia has thousands of nuclear weapons, it's unlikely that Putin will resort to it given the lack of a battlefield advantage.
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