Ukraine War Bleeds into Russia-U.S. Nuclear Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appeared to tone down rhetoric threatening the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but experts say the loose talk, coupled with a breakdown in diplomacy, has put the risk of nuclear conflict nearly on par with the Cold War.

“Even during the worst of the Cold War, we were still talking to one another,” said Jim Townsend, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO during the Obama administration. “We want these things to happen because it means we’re trying to bring some sanity to the nuclear world.”

Contact between U.S. and Russian officials have shrunk to the most senior levels and focused on the most sensitive of issues, in particular the fate of Americans unjustly detained in Russia and managing risk related to nuclear weapons use.

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