'Using our voice for peace' will not be an adequate substitute to investment in radar, maritime surveillance capabilities, cyber defences and other security necessities. You’ll find that pretty much everyone in the EU is in favour of peace. Photo: Bryan O’Brien/ The Irish Times
In the autumn of 2022, after Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine had been pushed back by counteroffensives and Vladimir Putin’s forces were facing the prospect of a humiliating and costly defeat, US intelligence began to issue warnings that Russia was preparing to use a tactical nuclear weapon to stem Ukrainian advances and stabilise the position on the battlefield.
The intelligence – which had earlier correctly predicted the invasion of Ukraine – was supported by a series of belligerent statements from regime figures in Moscow, which spoke of a mortal threat to the Russian state, the threshold required by Russian military doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons.
The US Biden administration issued a series of public and private warn
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