The Pentagon has expressed no concern regarding the advance of Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, the Pentagon’s press service reports.
Source: European Pravda, citing Sabrina Singh, Deputy Spokesperson for the Pentagon
Details: “No, because at the end of the day, Ukraine is fighting for its sovereign territory that its neighbour invaded. So, if we want to de-escalate tensions, as we’ve said from the beginning, the best way to do that is Putin can make that decision today to withdraw troops from Ukraine,” Singh stated, when asked about the potential escalation of tensions due to Ukrainian forces entering Kursk Oblast
For one, because they gave Ukraine guarantees to that effect. You might also have noticed that Russia threatened the west plenty with nukes, but not Ukraine.
Noone really knows what the exact Chinese policy is there they like their strategic ambiguity but one thing’s for sure they are really big on non-proliferation, and thus aren’t exactly fans of nuclear blackmail.
I don’t think the Chinese would be triggered by Russia nuking its own territory, but then, well, Russia would be nuking its own territory. They could nuke Sudja to get rid of the incursion but they’d be nuking their own defence. Also, their own city. If they withdraw their defence first, Ukraine would gain even more territory and they’d have to nuke even more. Or, differently put: Just because the term “tactical nuke” exists doesn’t mean that nukes are sensible tactical weapons.