Yep, someone is talking about how big his nuclear button is. Feeling a bit left out, perhaps? Because this time, it isn’t Donald or Kim Jong Un, but the one who gave us Donald in the first place.
The big deal about this new nuclear threat is that it is rather specific — in a speech to the Russian parliament (Russia’s rough equivalent of the SOTU), Putin announced that Russia has secretly developed a new capability that can overwhelm all existing Anti-Ballistic Missile defenses, and strike any protected target.
www.cnn.com/…
Putin is running for reelection in mid-March on a platform that emphasizes his strength as a leader. And Thursday's speech was an occasion for the Russian President to showcase his country's strides in military technology.
"Russia still has the greatest nuclear potential in the world, but nobody listened to us," he said. "Listen now."
The usual “defensive only” proviso was used: "We've never had an intention of attacking anybody, Russia will only retaliate if it is attacked." But we know from the Ukraine and Crimea that Russia has a very broad definition of what they consider an “attack.”