Follow us on social

Shutterstock_1367070692-scaled-e1653428364674

Putin mobilizes 300,000 reservists in significant escalation

The Russian leader also hinted at nuclear use if “the territorial integrity” of Russia is “threatened.”

Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that the Kremlin will mobilize 300,000 reservists, marking a significant escalation of the war in Ukraine.

The decision comes as Ukrainian battlefield successes have put Putin in hot water back home, with hawkish commentators attacking the Russian leader online. The move will mobilize about one fifth of Russia’s 2 million reservists.

In the same speech, Putin appeared to threaten the use of nuclear weapons if the war continues to turn against him. 

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all available means to protect our people,” he said, adding that “this is not a bluff.”

Experts worry that the vague term “territorial integrity” implies that the Kremlin may be prepared to escalate to nuclear war over Crimea, which it considers to be part of its sovereign territory.

George Beebe, the director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute, argued that the move is "yet another sign that we are in an intensifying escalation spiral with Russia."

"Each side believes that upping the ante will force the other side to sober up and back down," Beebe, who previously led the CIA's Russia desk, said. "But at every stage in this war, each side has reacted by escalating even more."

For Beebe, the risks of this escalation are stark. "This can only end in a direct confrontation between the world's two largest nuclear powers unless both sides find a way to compromise," he said.

Putin also endorsed the upcoming referendums in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia provinces in which locals will vote on whether to join the Russian Federation. Those regions make up approximately 15 percent of Ukraine’s total territory. 

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called the mobilization “absolutely predictable,” adding that “the war is clearly not going according to Russia's scenario.”

The U.S. response has been similarly harsh. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink called the decision a sign of “weakness” and “Russian failure.”

“The United States will never recognize Russia's claim to purportedly annexed Ukrainian territory, and we will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Brink wrote on Twitter. 

European powers largely mirrored the U.S. response. A European Union spokesperson said the decision showed Moscow is “not interested in peace” and called the move a sign of “desperation.”

China, whose leader Xi Jinping met with Putin just last week, called for a ceasefire and urged “negotiations and solutions that answer all parties’ security concerns.”

“Every country’s reasonable security concerns should be valued, and all efforts conducive to resolving the crisis peacefully should be supported,” said a spokesperson for Beijing’s foreign ministry. “China calls for dialogue and consultation to resolve the divergences."


Editorial credit: Gil Corzo / Shutterstock.com
Europe
Kim Jong Un
Top photo credit: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of the Ragwon County Offshore Farm, North Korea July 13, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

Kim Jong Un is nuking up and playing hard to get

Asia-Pacific

President Donald Trump’s second term has so far been a series of “shock and awe” campaigns both at home and abroad. But so far has left North Korea untouched even as it arms for the future.

The president dramatically broke with precedent during his first term, holding two summits as well as a brief meeting at the Demilitarized Zone with the North’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Unfortunately, engagement crashed and burned in Hanoi. The DPRK then pulled back, essentially severing contact with both the U.S. and South Korea.

keep readingShow less
Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one
Top photo credit: U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper speaks to guests at the IISS Manama Dialogue in Manama, Bahrain, November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one

Middle East

If accounts of President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities this past month are to be believed, the president’s initial impulse to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict failed to survive the prodding of hawkish advisers, chiefly U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael Kurilla.

With Kurilla, an Iran hawk and staunch ally of both the Israeli government and erstwhile national security adviser Mike Waltz, set to leave office this summer, advocates of a more restrained foreign policy may understandably feel like they are out of the woods.

keep readingShow less
Putin Trump
Top photo credit: Vladimir Putin (Office of the President of the Russian Federation) and Donald Trump (US Southern Command photo)

How Trump's 50-day deadline threat against Putin will backfire

Europe

In the first six months of his second term, President Donald Trump has demonstrated his love for three things: deals, tariffs, and ultimatums.

He got to combine these passions during his Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday. Only moments after the two leaders announced a new plan to get military aid to Ukraine, Trump issued an ominous 50-day deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. “We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal within 50 days,” Trump told the assembled reporters.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.