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A think tank known to have significant influence over the policies of Russia suggested that President Vladimir Putin should consider a "demonstrative" nuclear explosion in a bid to deter the West from supporting Ukraine.
Knewz.com has learned that the suggestion came right on the heels of Putin's warning regarding Ukraine's use of Western weapons to strike Russian territories.
Dmitry Suslov, a senior member of the Moscow-based think tank Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, wrote about the suggestion in the Russian business magazine Profile towards the end of May 2024.
"In order to confirm the seriousness of Russia's intentions and the conviction of our opponents that Moscow is ready to escalate, it is worth considering a demonstration (i.e. not a military) nuclear explosion," Suslov wrote.
"The political and psychological effect of the nuclear mushroom, which will be shown live by all the television channels of the world, I hope, will return to Western politicians that one, which prevented wars between the great powers after 1945 and that they have now largely lost, – fear of a nuclear war."
His suggestion came at a time when the Western allies of Ukraine had been deliberating the scope of the nation's use of foreign weapons in the war.
Initially, Germany and the United States were on the fence regarding Ukraine's use of their weapons to strike targets beyond the embattled nation's border with Russia.
In an interview with Tagesschau television on May 26, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned his intention to stay firm on his weapons policy: "There are clear rules that have been agreed with Ukraine and that apply to the supply of German weapons. At least, that is my position."
In his article on Profile, Suslov said that "if a positive decision is made on this issue," it "will bring the conflict to a fundamentally different level, it will mean erasing one of the brightest 'red lines' that existed since February 24, 2022."
He added that the move would signal "the direct entry of the United States and NATO into the war against Russia."
The Russian think tank senior member also said that "the voices of those who claim that this time Moscow will not cause military damage directly to Western countries are louder."
"This logic inevitably leads to the third world war. And if right now the further involvement of the West in the conflict in Ukraine is not stopped, then the full-fledged, "hot" war between Russia and NATO will become inevitable."
"Moreover, due to the superiority of the United States and NATO in the field of conventional weapons, this war will certainly go to the nuclear level," Suslov added.
He suggested that in order to deter the Western bloc from letting Ukraine use its weapons on Putin's territory, Russia needs to carry out a mock nuclear explosion, thus making a more tangible threat to the West regarding its weapons policy.
Suslov's threats came a day after President Putin warned the West of "serious consequences" regarding the same.
"This constant escalation can lead to serious consequences... Representatives of countries that are NATO members, particularly in Europe, should be aware of what they are playing with," Putin had said towards the end of May, via The Presidency of Russia.
Earlier in June, following the first use of American munition by Ukraine to attack targets in Russia, Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister of Russia, reminded the West of Putin's warning.
"I urge these figures [in the US] … to spend some of their time, which they apparently spend on some kind of video games, judging by the lightness of their approach, on studying what was said in detail by Putin," Ryabkov said, via The Telegraph.
"I would like to warn American leaders against miscalculations that could have fatal consequences. For unknown reasons, they underestimate the seriousness of the rebuff they may receive."
While suggestions made by Suslov's think tank have significant sway over the Kremlin's policies, Russia, currently in possession of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, has yet to comment on his statement.
Reuters, however, reported that Western security experts are concerned about Russia "inching towards" nuclear tests.
"There was no immediate comment on Suslov's proposal from the Kremlin, which has said Russia's nuclear policy remains unchanged while signaling its displeasure with what it cast as increasingly aggressive Western rhetoric on arming Kyiv earlier this month by ordering tactical nuclear weapons drills," Reuters wrote.
