The Irish Independent's View: Nuclear threats show leaders are playing a dangerous game
Asked what Vladimir Putin could do to avoid the sanctions, Mr Trump answered: 'Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.'
Mr Trump's previously conciliatory posture towards the Kremlin has taken on a menacing tone
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the significance of Mr Trump's announcement about moving the submarines, saying: 'We do not believe that we are talking about any escalation now.' He noted that 'everyone should be careful about nuclear rhetoric', adding: 'There can be no winner in a nuclear war.'
The US president's frustration at being strung along for months by Putin is clearly at breaking point. There is no sign of an end to fighting in Ukraine. Yet upping the ante in the nuclear stakes is hardly the answer. Since the Cold War, the two powers have walked a tightrope, knowing one stumble could mean Armageddon. A consensus held that as such a war could never be won, it could never be countenanced. But the balance of such reasoning seems threatened by a new recklessness in word, if – so far – not in deed.
Mr Trump's previously conciliatory posture towards the Kremlin has taken on a menacing tone in response to Moscow's continuing stonewalling and defiance.
But it should be remembered that so much has changed since the Cold War, with a third nuclear superpower, China, to be considered. The more players there are, the higher the chances of someone tripping over somebody else's feet.
The idea of everyone keeping everybody else in check has been further complicated by a number of other countries also holding arsenals for deterrence.
But it has been three-and-a-half years since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Despite the sanctions, Putin saw his economy grow by more than 4pc last year. The thinking now in Washington is to use secondary sanctions – hitting countries such as India and China, which are buying their energy from Moscow. These, after all, are the revenues funding the war in Ukraine.
Another deadline this week could end with either a breakthrough or another missed opportunity
So far, Mr Trump's see-sawing between promises and threats has come to nothing. Another deadline looming this week could end with either a breakthrough or another missed opportunity.
In Kyiv, president Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to the US and the EU to impose secondary sanctions on Moscow's energy, trade and banking sectors. So far, Mr Trump has shown no real commitment to forcing Putin's hand. Mr Witkoff's visits to Moscow have also yielded precious little.
Putin has leveraged his nuclear arsenal to project invincibility. But what happens when the roulette stops being rhetorical? There is far too much at stake for this to become a contest over who blinks first.
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