Only Putin Knows Where His Red Lines Are – Times on Possible Russia-US Conflict

Where Putin’s “red lines” lie, only he knows – Times about a possible conflict between Russia and the United States Diana Kwasniewska

What they write about Putin's “red lines”/Collage of Channel 24 (Photo by Getty Images)

Despite Putin's numerous threats, the US did transfer weapons to Ukraine. In particular, without any significant response from Russia, the United States even provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with long-range missiles.

Journalists write that there are several threats regarding the fact that the “hawks” in Washington are increasingly insisting that the United States not allow fears of an unlikely Armageddon to block much-needed assistance for Ukraine's defense.

What they write about Putin's “red lines”

The publication writes about the first threat, which is that Russia's “red lines” – the borders, the crossing of which will provoke retaliatory actions against the United States or NATO – are considered fixed, not mobile.

In fact, where they will be held depends on one person – Vladimir Putin. His judgment about what Russia should tolerate could change depending on his perception of the dynamics of the fighting, Western intentions, the mood inside Russia, and the likely reaction of the rest of the world, the media outlet said.

They explain that what the Russian dictator may put up with today could become a casus belli (a reason for war) tomorrow, and the world will only learn where his “red lines” really are once they are crossed.

The journalists also write that there is a widespread belief in the Kremlin that unless Russia takes a hard line soon, the US and its NATO allies will only add more powerful weapons to Ukraine's arsenal, ultimately jeopardizing Moscow's ability to detect and respond to attacks on its nuclear weapons forces.

By the way, in response to Putin's nuclear saber-rattling, ISW explained that the probability of a real nuclear escalation due to such statements is very small.