Top European officials must not shrug Vladimir Putin’s the recent nuclear threats – indeed the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Friday that the war had reached a “dangerous moment” that was cornering the Russian army.

What happened: Following last weekend’s referendums, Putin addressed his country on Wednesday and reiterated his intention to annex four partially occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine.

In his speech, the Russian leader stated that 300,000 Russians who had completed their compulsory military service would be called up, prompting civic groups to evacuate the country to avoid deployment to the front lines.

In the speech, Putin also threatened to use nuclear weapons and other “means at our disposal” if he saw Russia’s “territorial integrity” in danger.

His statement follows a counter-offensive in which Ukraine is said to have retaken more than 8,000 square kilometers (3,088 sq mi) from Russian forces.
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Accusing the US and its allies of engaging in “nuclear blackmail,” Putin remarked, “I would like to remind you that our country also has different types of weapons, and some of them are more modern than the weapons NATO uses.” -Countries have – we will definitely use all the weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.”

Why it matters: “If people say it’s not a bluff, you have to take them seriously,” said the EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borell told the BBC. He noted that “it is a dangerous moment because the Russian army has been cornered and Putin’s reaction threatening to use nuclear weapons is very bad”.

He added that Europe and its allies were struggling to control the narrative in the conflict as Russia promoted the idea that European sanctions on Moscow were to blame for the energy crisis, which has pushed up electricity and heating bills.

“People in my country tell me that the price of gas means we can’t keep working, we can’t…