WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia’s assault on Ukraine and its veiled threats of using nuclear arms have policymakers past and present thinking the unthinkable: How should the West respond to a Russian battlefield explosion of a nuclear bomb?
The default U.S. policy answer is with discipline and restraint. Rose Gottemoeller, a former NATO deputy secretary-general, suggests the West could respond by stepping up sanctions and isolation for Russia.
But no one can count on calm minds to prevail in such an unprecedented moment.
Demands would be great for tough retaliation — the kind that can be done with nuclear-loaded missiles capable of moving faster than the speed of sound.
