Would Putin push the nuclear button?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How seriously should we take Putin’s nuclear weapons threats?
During his last address to the nation, the Russian president reiterated his threat of nuclear action against the West - so how worried should we be?
Dr Patricia Lewis, a nuclear physicist and arms control expert joins Boris Bondarev, a former Russian diplomat who quit following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to give their take.
And why has the Pope caused uproar in Ukraine?
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Keiligh Baker, Arsenii Sokolov and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:04.6 | Hello, it's 748 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.1 | And we are going to talk about these recent comments from Vladimir Putin. |
| 0:14.0 | They need to understand once and for all that we have weapons too that can strike targets on their territory |
| 0:28.2 | and everything they think up and scare the world with risks a nuclear conflict and the end of civilization. |
| 0:37.0 | Vladimir Putin was speaking in his State of the Nation address on the 29th of February when he also said that Russia's |
| 0:45.8 | nuclear arsenal was in a state of full combat readiness. So this is how nuclear deterrence works. It's a way of intimidating your enemy into inaction or possibly retreat. It's not the first time he's made such threats and whether or not |
| 1:06.5 | Russia is completely prepared to use nuclear weapons is a completely different question, which we're going to discuss in this |
| 1:14.8 | episode. |
| 1:15.8 | Yeah, I mean it is a frightening thought. |
| 1:16.9 | We have talked about it since the full scale invasion because literally within three or four days |
| 1:22.8 | President Putin had put his nuclear weapons on high alerts. |
| 1:25.6 | We discussed it then. |
| 1:27.0 | It's just as frightening now. |
| 1:29.2 | In this episode we're going to discuss how seriously we take these threats. Would President Putin ever really |
| 1:34.8 | push the nuclear button? What are the checks and balances? We've got a leading arms control |
| 1:39.6 | expert who's a friend of the podcast and a former Russian diplomat who quit his post following the full-scale invasion. |
| 1:45.7 | This is Ukraine. |
| 1:47.7 | Ukraine Kast from BBC News. |
| 1:50.5 | Ukraine is an epicenter of unbearable heart rage and pain. |
| 1:55.0 | Millions of people are without heating, without water. |
| 1:58.0 | Putin is the aggressor. |
... |
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