Putin has “no incentive to just go into retirement” – Hodges
It is more advantageous for Russia to threaten nuclear weapons than to use them. However, this danger should not be ignored, as the Kremlin has no moral constraints and no incentive to stop.
This view was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of US Army Europe.
“There is no benefit for Russia to use a nuclear weapon, for Russians, the only benefit is the threat,” the retired General said.
He recalled that, for example, the Joe Biden administration was hesitant about providing aid to Ukraine, and that Washington never explicitly said it wanted Ukraine to win. According to Hodges, the United States was concerned about the risk of nuclear war. At the same time, he noted that countries that would be most affected by a Russian nuclear strike, if such weapons were used, are often less concerned about it than those located farther away.
Commenting on recent Russian–Belarusian nuclear exercises, Hodges described them as part of information and psychological operations, while stressing that the threat itself remains real.
Hodges also believes that Putin does not currently feel cornered. At the same time, voices in the West can be heard calling for giving the Russian dictator an “off-ramp.”
“I hear people say, ‘Oh, he needs an off-ramp’. No, he has an off-ramp. He can pull out. He has an off-ramp. It is not the job of the West to give him a way to get out of this mess he has created and which has caused so much damage. I think now the West should be committed to helping Ukraine defeat Russia, which means, you know, back to the 1991 borders,” said Ben Hodges.
The General is convinced that Putin has no incentive to stop, because he has “no incentive to just go into retirement,” as he believes he would be killed: he has destroyed Russia, its reputation, and its own military; he has driven away most buyers of Russian oil and gas. Therefore, Putin needs the war in order to remain in power.
In his view, those responsible for war crimes against Ukraine should also not feel safe. “Every Russian general that is anywhere in the chain of command responsible for war crimes or any of these other things that they have been doing for the rest of their life is going to be looking over their shoulder and checking under their car because they know that the Main Intelligence Directorate is out there… None of these people should ever be able to rest and enjoy their retirement for the war crimes they committed,” said Ben Hodges.
As previously reported, Hodges also emphasized that Ukraine must isolate Crimea and make it impossible for Russian forces to remain there as part of the path toward its liberation.