U.S. Response to Putin: Confidence, Not Cowardice

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has threatened “densely populated” Eastern European cities in response to Western leaders’ allowing Ukraine to use their weapons to hit military targets inside Russia. This, together with the announcement that missiles provided by the United States helped Ukraine hit a Russian military site in Crimea, is likely to prompt more calls for Ukraine to “de-escalate.” But that’s a recipe for prolonging an already long war.

Instead, the U.S. should bolster the credibility of conventional and nuclear weapons around the region to deter Russian escalation — whether that escalation would take the form of hitting a NATO country with conventional weapons or crossing the nuclear threshold — and step up help for Ukraine to make gains on the battlefield.

About the Author

Rebeccah Heinrichs

Rebeccah Heinrichs is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the director of Hudson’s Keystone Defense Initiative.

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Russian leader Vladimir Putin has threatened “densely populated” Eastern European cities in response to Western leaders’ allowing Ukraine to use their weapons to hit military targets inside Russia. This, together with the announcement that missiles provided by the United States helped Ukraine hit a Russian military site in Crimea, is likely to prompt more calls for Ukraine to “de-escalate.” But that’s a recipe for prolonging an already long war.

Instead, the U.S. should bolster the credibility of conventional and nuclear weapons around the region to deter Russian escalation — whether that escalation would take the form of hitting a NATO country with conventional weapons or crossing the nuclear threshold — and step up help for Ukraine to make gains on the battlefield.