Using nukes will not work for them as this escalates the war to a global level beyond the Russian government's control and leading to immediate "major" western reactions. And nukes will upset China being downwind and needing all those agricultural lands on the long run.
Until now the Russian government seems to still move controlled and in limited ways with much of the crazy rhetorics meant for domestic consumption. With all respect to the war victims the government still moves sort of softer than it speaks. The problem is they do not only not reach their goals but everything massively backfires eroding Russias reputation and wealth to rogue state level. It must be a new record speed for any country to just waste what it had before and work against every declared own objective and interest. Unfortunately this means there is a lot of room for error on their side concerning the next steps. It's not the rationale Cold War chess game anymore.
Last edited by Less Hair; 23rd Sep 2022 at 06:42.