Putin returns to brinksmanship after new US sanctions

This new exercise in nuclear brinkmanship, from which Putin had refrained for about half a year, indicates that his hopes for establishing a personal rapport with Trump are sinking. He may still seek opportunities to exploit tensions in U.S.–European relations, but the intensity of communications between Washington, D.C., and major European capitals is so high that Russian diplomatic intrigues and “hybrid” operations are constantly and effectively countered. The lingering suspicion that Zelenskyy can outmaneuver him is likely particularly irritating for the Russian autocrat. It appears as if it matters little to Putin that the Burevestnik is an old Soviet design, discarded as ineffectual, and that it makes even less military sense than the Oreshnik intermediate-range missile launched last November. He likely hopes to regain Trump’s priority attention, and nuclear weapons are his diplomatic means of last resort.