The West should listen carefully when Russian President Vladimir Putin talks about using nuclear weapons, not forgetting that it is more useful for him to threaten them than to use them.

This was stated by the head of the armed forces of Norway, General Eirik Kristoffersen, to Reuters.

All about the topic:

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He made his speech before the nuclear exercises that NATO member countries are holding this week.

Russia plans to hold its own soon.

Norway is part of the Alliance and borders Russia in the Arctic.

Putin and senior Russian officials have repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend the country.

"First, we have to listen to what Putin says. Second, there is no reason for him to use nuclear weapons... There is no threat to the existence of Russia. So he has no reason to use them," Kristoffersen summed up.

In his words, for the Russian president, the threat of using nuclear weapons is more valuable than their actual use.

"It's about deterrence, like it was during the Cold War. It's about Russia saying it has the capability and showing us - the rest of the world - that it can do it," he explained.

Asked if he thought Moscow was more willing to use nuclear weapons than before, Kristoffersen pointed out that Putin followed the Russian doctrine of using nuclear weapons when the country's "very existence" was at risk.

"He follows his doctrine. So if there is a nuclear attack on Russia - definitely. If there is a threat to the existence of Russia - definitely," he pointed out.

The Arctic is home to Russia's Northern Fleet, a key fighting force in the region with a nuclear second-strike capability — the ability to respond to a nuclear attack by using its own nuclear weapons against the attacker.

Kristoffersen recalled that Moscow conducted an exercise of its nuclear deterrent forces on February 19 - five days before its invasion of Ukraine.

German intelligence services: Putin may hit Ukraine with sub-strategic nuclear weapons

"They usually do it in the fall. That was, of course, a signal," he noted.

After the February 24 invasion, Russia reduced the size of its ground forces in the Arctic to send them to Ukraine, realizing there was little risk in the move, Kristoffersen added.

"Russia can move all its ground forces away from the entire eastern border of NATO and use them in Ukraine without fear of being attacked because it knows that NATO does not pose a threat to it," he categorically stated.

According to him, the army forces in question have suffered heavy losses in terms of personnel and equipment.

Still, Kristoffersen stressed that Russia could quickly rebuild its ground forces, given that it trains about 250,000 conscripts each year.

Russia has always said that its military doctrine does not foresee it being the first to use nuclear weapons, but at the same time the country is ready to use its nuclear arsenal if its existence is threatened, even if attacked with conventional weapons.

On September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that he was not bluffing, saying he was ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia against what he called "nuclear blackmail" by major Western powers.

For his part, US President Joe Biden announced that the world is facing the greatest risk of nuclear Armageddon since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. However, he expressed doubt that Putin would use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has not officially said it intends to use nuclear weapons and has always denied using them in the conflict in Ukraine, but some Putin allies such as Ramzan Kadyrov openly advocate their use in Ukraine.

He called for the use of the so-called

low-yield tactical nuclear weapons to inflict heavy losses on Ukrainian defenders.

Other high-ranking Russian representatives, such as former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, clearly warn that the West is heading for a Third World War, and if there is one, it will be nuclear.

Russian invasion of Ukraine