Amid the war in Ukraine, Moscow continues to build bridges in the Middle East.
The risk of "Armageddon" is the highest it has been since the early 1960s, President Joe Biden said Thursday night as Russian losses in Ukraine prompt Russian officials to discuss the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons. Biden went further in his risk assessment than other U.S. officials.
Christopher Chivvis, a senior fellow and director of the Carnegie Endowment's American Statecraft Program, joins us to discuss.
North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile over Japan, believed to be the farthest its ever launched one before. It prompted people to take shelter, and heightened concerns over escalating aggression in the region.
Denuclearization is now in the dustbin of history as a failed policy. There is simply no practical plan at this point, especially in the short term, to bring North Korea to the negotiating table.
The honest answer is that no one knows for sure. But what can be said with reasonable certainty is that the hypothetical downfall of Putin, as morally satisfying as it would be, is unlikely to be simple and straightforward. Nor should anyone assume that a Russia without Putin would make the west more secure.
If war is Beijing’s plan, there would be reliable indications that it is coming.
This is Mr. Putin’s message, and the mood in the Russian elite is noticeably gloomy and fatalistic. There is, however, one significant difference between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and threats to resort to nuclear weapons. Before the invasion, Russia fiercely denied having any intention of invading.
For the moment, there are no scenarios for Putin's departure.
"It's a really important moment. The Russian government has been on the defensive since the Ukrainians launched their counteroffensive at the end of August. And now the referenda and annexation moves today are basically Vladimir Putin's attempt to flip the script."