Based on what Putin’s most influential foreign policy architect is saying openly, the answer is getting uncomfortably close to yes. Sergey Karaganov advised Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin. When he talks, the Kremlin listens, and right now he’s calling for nuclear strikes on European soil!! His argument is straightforward: Russia is already in a world war, the West has crossed every red line without consequence, and the only way to stop the bleeding is to make the cost of escalation real. He wants conventional strikes on European targets first, then limited nuclear strikes if they don’t back down. The part that should stop you cold: he described a limited nuclear exchange as a potential “savior of humanity,” on the grounds that it would finally bring Western elites to their senses. All of this is on the record, published and unambiguous. He also called the Spirit of Alaska a joke, dismissed any diplomatic pathway short of eliminating the Kyiv government, and said the peace talks are a trap. Three years ago, he was a fringe voice. He says he isn’t anymore, and that’s the part worth paying attention to.
