Vladimir Putin is once again rattling the nuclear saber. His latest, not-so-subtle threat that “constant escalation can lead to serious consequences” has come in response to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s repeated statements, most recently one that he issued on May 28, that Ukraine’s “right of self-defense includes also striking targets outside Ukraine, legitimate military targets inside Russia.”

Stoltenberg added that “it will be very hard and difficult for the Ukrainians to defend themselves if they cannot hit military targets just on the other side of the border. These may be missile launchers. ... [or] artillery … [or] airfields which are used to attack Ukraine. And if Ukraine cannot hit those military targets, it will be much harder for them to defend themselves.”

He noted that “some allies have not imposed restrictions on the weapons they have delivered. Others have. I believe the time now has come to consider those restrictions.”

On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz further stoked Putin’s ire by echoing Stoltenberg’s remarks at a joint press conference marking their bilateral........

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