The West is no longer afraid of Putin's "red lines"

Putin continues to threaten Western countries with nuclear weapons. Moreover, the rhetoric of intimidation became more intense after the Kremlin learnt that Ukraine might be allowed to strike deep into Russia with weapons provided by allies. However, despite the threats, European politicians have stopped taking Putin's nuclear blackmail seriously. Time reports that.

European leaders are no longer afraid of Russia's nuclear threats and declare that assistance to Ukraine in this war will continue," the newspaper writes.

In particular, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasised that Europe can never allow someone who does not respect democracy and human rights to decide what other countries should do.

Frederiksen added that Putin is now "like a boy who 'cried wolf' too many times" about nuclear weapons. She also pointed out that his too frequent intimidation has already had the opposite effect - the West has stopped seeing nuclear threats as real.

Fear and leadership do not go hand in hand. The Western habit of worrying about Putin's red lines has led to too frequent delays in supporting Ukraine. The only red line I see in this war has already been crossed when they attacked Ukraine," the Danish prime minister said.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola reacted to another Russian nuclear threat by saying that Russia's apocalyptic rhetoric is a typical Russian reaction to any Western action when Moscow is not happy with it.

Metsola added that Putin is deliberately going into conflict with Europe.

But if the rhetoric intensifies, we will have to take concrete steps," she said.

The day before, the Kremlin, clearly aware that its red lines were being ignored, said Russia would need to lower its threshold for using nuclear weapons.