Putin’s nuclear threats: How seriously should the West take them? | Conflict Zone

NATO must be ready "ultimately to fight a war of national survival," says Sir Richard Shirreff, a retired British army general and a former deputy commander of the Western military alliance in Europe. This includes in the event of imposing a no-fly zone, which Ukraine has called for and NATO has rejected, fearing further escalation with Russia. “It will,” says Shirreff, “be an act of war.” Speaking on Wednesday on DW’s Conflict Zone, Shirreff said that the odds are “stacked in Putin’s favor” in Ukraine, despite the “incredibly brave battle” of its people. Host Tim Sebastian asked Shirreff how seriously the West should take Putin’s nuclear threats and how we got here. 00:00 Background 01:30 On Putin's nuclear threats 06:45 Are there any constraints on Putin's ability to launch nuclear missiles? 07:20 "He's a heavily armed, isolated, irrational, angry old man" 10:56 On reported Russian losses 12:30 "He will ultimately take the major cities [in Ukraine]" 13:44 On a no-fly zone over Ukraine 15:47 What if Ukraine had joined NATO? 18:02 "There are real parallels here with the 1930s" 21:43 A new reality in the West? 25:41 Credits  Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutsche... For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Facebook:   / deutschewellenews   ►Twitter:   / dwnews   ►Instagram:   / dwnews   Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie:    / dwdeutsch   #Nuclear #War #Putin