World War 3

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that any foreign intervention in Ukraine would provoke what he called a “lightning fast” response from Moscow.

NATO's chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Thursday that the war in Ukraine could last for years. Those include rising energy costs and disrupted supply chains and goods from Russia and Ukraine, among the world's biggest "bread baskets." Indeed, the economic punishment on Russia has been increasing by the day, in the form of more sanctions on its businesses, key sectors and officials close or within Putin's regime. For its part, Russia has sought to inflict its own pain on European countries that are, awkwardly, heavily reliant on Russian natural gas imports. "Ultimately, if he uses nuclear weapons, even a demonstration strike, this would turn Russia into a global pariah," Alberque said. That's Russia's "Victory Day" — the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat by the Soviet Union in World War II. Still, if a wider war did break out, "NATO's overall conventional capabilities outmatch Russia's," he noted. "But also there's a logic of mutually assured destruction that hopefully will rein everybody in." Nonetheless, Ramani noted the threat posed by Russia could become more acute if it felt humiliated on the battlefield. In the last few days alone, for example, Russia stopped gas supplies to two European countries and has warned the West several times that the risk of a nuclear war is very "real." At the start of the week, Russia's foreign minister warned that the threat of a nuclear war "cannot be underestimated" and said NATO's supply of weapons to Ukraine was tantamount to the military alliance engaging in a proxy war with Russia. - In the last few days alone, Russia stopped gas supplies to two European countries and has warned the West several times that the risk of a nuclear war is very "real."