Russian President Vladimir Putin will not use nuclear weapons, even if he is cornered, in particular, in the event of the approach of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the occupied Crimea.

This opinion was expressed by the executive director of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, Vadym Denysenko, in an interview with TSN.ua.

He answered a question about how the West would react if the Defense Forces of Ukraine approached

.

After all

"Let's first liberate Melitopol, and then we'll talk about approaches to Crimea," Denysenko said.

At the same time, he is convinced that Putin will not dare to launch a nuclear strike.

"I believed, believe and still continue to be sure that

. He is a coward at heart, he is afraid of many things, and he will not dare to do it. Therefore, in this case, I believe , that in principle

. Driving it into a dead end will not make it stronger, on the contrary, it will make it weaker. Unfortunately, most European politicians do not want to realize this," the expert noted.

We will remind, the head of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov believes that the movement of Ukrainian troops to Crimea will not encourage Putin to use nuclear weapons.

At the same time, Budanov said: "And Crimea will be returned to us."  

It should be noted that in mid-January, The New York Times wrote that the United States is determined to help Ukraine attack Russian targets in Crimea, even if such a step increases the risk of escalation.

It was noted that fears that the Kremlin would respond to this with the use of tactical nuclear weapons have faded in the administration of the US president.

Read also:

• Ukraine news

• War in Ukraine

• News of Ukraine: video

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