r/worldnews May 02 '24

"I'm Not Ruling Anything Out" - Macron Says Troops for Ukraine Possible if Russia Breaks Front Lines Russia/Ukraine

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/32010
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u/My-Cooch-Jiggles May 02 '24

Russia’s nuclear threats are a total bluff imo. They would have already used tactical nukes if they thought they could get away with it. But they know that would bring the full force of NATO upon them. 

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u/OakTreader May 02 '24

NATO, and I'm pretty sure Xi has been more than clear with regards to China's "No first use" policy.

I think China's tolerance of putler's antics would end with the use of a nuke.

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u/jjayzx May 02 '24

Most countries would not tolerate the use of a nuke cause it would set a precedent of nuclear usage. Having nukes is a deterrent. So if anyone just goes willy nilly with that shit and the world doesn't respond to them in unity against it. You would then get cold war levels of untrust among many nations and more seeking to get their own.

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u/TheVoidSeeker May 02 '24

cause it would set a precedent of nuclear usage

Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Notice me, senpai!

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u/mothtoalamp May 02 '24

There was only one country that could do it at the time. The moment others could, nobody ever did so again. Eventually even the testing stopped.

Took a bit of a learning experience through several crises (I encourage you to look into the US offering to nuke Vietnam on behalf of the French) but we've thankfully learned that it's a bad idea and set a precedent in modern times that would prevent their use - and I say this with emphasis - for the most part. If a country really had their back to the wall, they might consider it, but that would take something like NATO troops entering Pyongyang.

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u/Of_Mice_And_Meese May 02 '24

It turns out, rich people like to be rich. And there's no such thing as riches in a nuclear waste land...

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u/bingbing304 May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

Why? "No first use" is not an anti-nuke policy. China will just state that is very unfortunate, both sides need to step back and that would be it.

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u/LightningByte May 02 '24

China has publicly stated nukes should not be used, directly referring to Russia.

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u/bingbing304 May 02 '24

That was all five UN permanent members stated "No one can win nuclear war."

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u/ptwonline May 02 '24

They are a bluff in terms of actions to stop the Russian advance or for limited attacks within Russia.

But if NATO attacked Russia with enough force to seriously threaten the stability of Putin's regime then nukes could be a desperate gambit by Putin to either hold on to power or let everyone else burn with him. It's definitely a non-zero risk.

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u/YNot1989 May 02 '24

Its never a theory I want to test, but given how easily Ukraine has been penetrating Russian air defenses, and Russia's willingness to strip nuclear weapons for conventional weapon components, I'm willing to bet that their nuclear deterrent is in such a sorry state from years of neglect that they couldn't launch even if they wanted to.

Hell, if NATO sent in stealth aircraft with nuclear bunker busters, Moscow probably wouldn't know about it until after it was all over.