Moscow – President Vladimir Putin is engaging in a calculated escalation of rhetoric, issuing his most severe threat yet to the United States and backing it up with bold claims of battlefield success to ensure it is taken seriously.
The threat is focused on the potential supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Putin warned this would trigger a “qualitatively new stage of escalation” and would “destroy” the US-Russia relationship, a clear attempt to deter further Western military support.
To give this threat weight, Putin simultaneously announced the capture of nearly 5,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in 2025. This claim is designed to show that Russia is operating from a position of strength and is prepared to follow through on its warnings.
While Putin calculates his next move, Ukraine is adapting to the changing nature of the war. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of a new form of hybrid warfare: using its oil tanker fleet for spying and sabotage.
Zelenskyy’s confident assertion that these operations can be stopped with allied help signals that Ukraine is not intimidated and is prepared to fight the war on any front Russia chooses to open.
