Putin's 'incredibly dangerous' nuclear threats raise the risk of an unprecedented disaster

Russian President Vladimir Putin's ultimatum to the West drastically increases the hazard of a atomic conflict, analysts and campaigners warned, with satellite leaders denouncing what they picture arsenic "reckless" and "irresponsible" threats.

Speaking successful a rare televised address connected Wednesday, Putin called up other forces for the warfare successful Ukraine and warned that if the territorial integrity of Russia was threatened, the Kremlin would "certainly usage each the means astatine our disposal to support Russia and our people. It is not a bluff."

It was wide interpreted arsenic a menace that Putin is prepared to usage atomic weapons to escalate the warfare following a drawstring of Ukrainian successes.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev connected Thursday doubled down connected the Kremlin's atomic posturing, saying that immoderate weapons successful Russia's arsenal could beryllium utilized to support its territories — including strategical atomic weapons.

It comes arsenic pro-Moscow determination leaders successful areas of confederate and eastbound Ukraine announced referendums connected joining Russia. The votes are expected to instrumentality spot successful the Russia-controlled regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, reportedly amounting to astir 15% of Ukrainian territory.

The result of the referendums is wide believed to person been pre-determined by the Kremlin, prompting the U.S. and its allies to denounce them arsenic a "sham."

Political analysts accidental the Kremlin whitethorn past presumption Ukrainian subject enactment against these 4 areas arsenic an onslaught against Russia itself.

"The citizens of Russia tin beryllium definite that the territorial integrity of our Motherland, our independency and state volition beryllium ensured, I stress this again, with each the means astatine our disposal," Putin said.

"Those statements spell beyond the Russian atomic doctrine, which lone suggests Russian archetypal usage successful a accepted warfare erstwhile the precise beingness of the authorities is threatened," said Andrey Baklitskiy, a elder researcher successful the weapons of wide demolition and different strategical weapons programme astatine the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.

"Coming from the idiosyncratic who has the sole decision-making powerfulness regarding Russian atomic weapons this volition person to beryllium taken seriously," Baklitskiy said, noting that Putin's citation of "territorial integrity" was tricky to find fixed that the Kremlin is readying to sorb 4 Ukrainian regions.

"None of this means that Russia would edifice to atomic use. This would beryllium a genuinely world-changing decision," Baklitskiy said.

"And it's not wide if specified a determination would adjacent pb to immoderate desired outcomes for [President] Putin … But extending the conditions for imaginable usage amidst the ongoing warfare is simply a immense gamble," helium added. "One we all, including Russia, would beryllium safer without."

U.S. President Joe Biden condemned Putin's menace to usage atomic weapons and urged allied U.N. leaders to cull Russia's penetration of Ukraine.

Speaking astatine the U.N. office successful New York City connected Wednesday, Biden accused the Kremlin of making "reckless" and "irresponsible" threats and said, "a atomic warfare cannot beryllium won and indispensable ne'er beryllium fought."

His comments echoed remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who told Reuters connected Wednesday that the 30-nation Western antiaircraft confederation would stay calm and "not prosecute successful that aforesaid benignant of reckless and unsafe atomic rhetoric arsenic President Putin."

Putin has alluded to Russia's atomic weaponry astatine assorted points during the struggle with Ukraine. Still, determination are doubts among Western leaders implicit whether Moscow would edifice to deploying a limb of wide destruction.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told German media connected Wednesday that helium didn't judge the satellite would let Putin to usage atomic weapons.

Beatrice Fihn, Nobel laureate and enforcement manager of the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons, told CNBC that Putin's "incredibly unsafe and irresponsible" threats drastically summation the hazard of escalation to a atomic conflict.

"Threats to usage atomic weapons little the threshold for their use," Fihn said via email. "Subsequent treatment by politicians and commentators astir the anticipation of Russia utilizing atomic weapons and astir imaginable atomic responses without besides discussing the devastating humanitarian interaction of utilizing adjacent alleged 'tactical' atomic weapons is eroding the taboo against their use."

Fihn called for the planetary assemblage to "unequivocally condemn immoderate and each atomic threats" and urged governmental leaders to renew efforts to get escaped of each atomic weapons by signing and ratifying the Treaty connected the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Max Hess, a chap astatine the Foreign Policy Research Institute deliberation tank, described Putin's atomic threats arsenic a "very important announcement."

"Now, the existent menace from Putin's code was that he's prepared to usage atomic weapons to support Russian territory, including the territory that they program to annex," helium told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe."

"This includes not lone the Donetsk and Luhansk region, the accepted Donbas, but besides each of Zaporizhzhia and each of Kherson — Ukrainian regions that precise overmuch stay contested and wherever Russians bash not power their entirety."

"What this means past for those territories that are inactive nether Ukrainian power with regards to Putin's threats is inactive near unsaid," Hess added.

If Putin were to usage a alleged tactical atomic limb successful Ukraine, determination would beryllium "no going back" and "no negotiation," according to Timothy Ash, an emerging markets strategist astatine BlueBay Asset Management.

In specified a scenario, Putin "is finished with the West forever, and apt past adjacent the Chinese, India, South Africa, the BRICS, and the remainder of the non-aligned satellite turns against him," Ash said. The BRICS acronym refers to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

A limb of wide destruction, oregon WMD, "is a deterrent," Ash said. "Once it is used, its powerfulness is really denuded."