Don't be swayed by vile Putin's 'nuclear bluster'

UNITED WITH THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE

- Marco Giannangeli

WESTERN leaders must resist being swayed by Vladimir Putin's "nuclear bluster", a new report has warned.

It comes after Russia assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council yesterday - a move described by Ukrainian officials as "the worst joke ever for April Fool's Day".

Presidency of the council rotates on a monthly basis. The last time Russia held it was February last year the month it launched its invasion of Ukraine.

More than a year into the conflict a new report warns that Western leaders are taking Putin's repeated nuclear threats too literally.

The report, by the Chatham House think tank, advised against conflating his nuclear rhetoric with Russia's nuclear policy.

Such is the West's "fear-induced paralysis" that it is allowing Putin to achieve his objectives "without firing shot", said Keir Giles, author of the report.

The results of helping accepting Putin's narrative have been significant, including limiting the supply of war-winning weapons to "trickling homeopathic doses" and even "fear of the prospect of Ukrainian victory", due to worries that Putin will push the nuclear button.