How would the EU react to a nuclear strike by Russia? | Battle Lines | Podcast

On today's bonus episode of Battle Lines James Rothwell speaks to Professor James Davis, a former advisor to Angela Merkel's government and the head of a new research group, the European Nucleus Study Group. which has been launched to advise experts and European leaders on the current nuclear crisis between Russia and NATO. They discuss what the west reaction would be to a nuclear attack by Russia and what precedent that would set for countries like India, Pakistan and North Korea.
Contributors:
David Knowles (Host) @djknowles22 on X.
James Rothwell (Berlin Correspondent) @jamesErothwell on X
Professor James Davis (Founder, European Nuclear Group) @profjdavis on X
For 3 months access to The Telegraph for just £1: www.telegraph.co.uk/audio |
Email: [e-mail]

[@Tiax776]

EU wouldn't be allowed to strike Russian territory in fear of escalation.

[@laurie9557]

Is this Angela Merkel's team advocating the continuation of her policy of appeasement?

[@gregmchale5011]

I would not value the advice from an advisor to Merkel, this woman was a complete failure as a leader, knowing what Putin was like and ignoring him completely. She had no excuses... Germany as a nation worked hard to build Russia up, in fact the German companies were working to build advanced military training centers in Russia... thank goodness Merkel did block this effort...

[@GunterZochbauer]

We would ask the US if they want to do something about it.

[@TheDrAstrov]

those who survive will hotly debate who started it first. ))

[@free-rangemotorcycling3677]

The EU would call a meeting where they would have 30+ different views and ideas, by the time they had decided on what to do they would either have been overrun, or the attackers would have lost interest due to extreme boredom. The EU is powerless to retaliate, as only France has nuclear weapons and we all know that France agrees to everything and does as it pleases.

[@joecater894]

UK and France since the UK and EU military cooperation remains intact after brexit.. but countries would not respond to a nuclear weapon with a nuclear weapon necessarily. But there could be NATO strikes backed with nuclear threat to target russia.. should any nuclear weapons ever be used against NATO. For example, likely scenaio is NATO would enter Ukraine war with full scale conventional weapons that would see any russian asset in Ukraine fair game.. but not Russian mainland.. and then russia would be told a nuclear response would lead to nuclear war.

[@TheLucanicLord]

The EU has no military function, since for all the time it existed there was NATO for that. (Correct at time of writing)

[@fredfred2363]

That's the good and bad about democratic decisions. No single individual can make a decision. Everything has to be done by consencus, with meetings and debates. And more meetings. And possibly the formation of investigative committees. And maybe another meeting or debate. In a nutshell, no immediate action is taken, allowing an aggressor to continue, invading, plundering, capturing, destoying... However, an authoritarian decision relies on a single individual choosing what to do. Often at a whim. But the decision is fast. Not usually right though. Who wins between authoritarian and democratic process? I dunno. But my guess is that the democratic countries would be overrun by the time a decision was made. And then it'd be too late.

[@mikeck4609]

Not sure how confident I am in an advisor to Merkel; considering her policy decisions and how much they linked Germany to Russia; AGAINST the recommendations of the US and many in NATO

[@niklasnorberg5071]

That's why they blow up the pipeline 😂

[@mattkelly2004]

I think an actual detonation in the desert, and allowing an audience to gather maybe television crews to air it would go a long way to show people just how devastating these weapons are, it has been decades since anyone has seen a nuclear weapon detonate. It might go along way to dampen the nuclear rhetoric at least coming from our side.

[@philaman1972]

In this clip, they used the term 'the day after'. Forty years ago, there was a movie on ABC by the same name that depicted what life would be like following a nuclear exchange. Needless to say, it terrified an entire nation!

[@dirtyharry6297]

If UK really wanted to help Ukraine to get Taurus it would of provide Storm Shadow with a longer range instead - to complete the mission with bridge

[@piotrd.4850]

There are no longer range Storm Shadows, but UK proposed to Germany that it will backfill 1:1 their Taurus missiles with Storm Shadow.

[@BigDaddyButthead90]

Why? Russia says they're winning easily, what reason would there be?

[@usergiodmsilva1983PT]

The real issue is people saying "nukelar"... FFS, even Brits are doing that now?

[@marktuffield6519]

Up there with "skedule" and "lootenant" in my pet hates 😂

[@edwardhulin9935]

Or maybe "newkiller"

[@skepticalbadger]

REALLY annoying. I can't listen to this as a result.

[@Tennesseepoet]

JFK said it that way. Everyone did back in the day.

[@crownvap6340]

The EU's reaction - They will go up in smoke.

[@wbiro]

It would probably erase Russia - ban its language, relocate the historic Muscovites (centered in St. Petersburg and Moscow) to far Siberia slave camps (underfed and underclothed, as is the Russian rule), and then happily claim the land east of the Urals as their own, parceling it out among themselves, and giving everything east of the Urals to the native populations, all of which would be an improvement to humanity, as I see it, so I would not really protest.

[@hansjorgkunde3772]

St. Petersburg is not Muscovy territory. It belonged to Novgorod.

[@iLoveBeingDelusional4U]

There's only 3 countries can reply, France, UK and the US. Unfortunately Putin has a dilemma who to hit first before a retaliation.

[@adrien5834]

There's no point hitting the UK or France. Their nuclear deterrent is at sea.

[@iLoveBeingDelusional4U]

Doubt it, China wouldn't like it. Commerce and trade interpretation would be inconvenient to them, specially when they're trying to recover from the pandemic.

[@raffaelecare]

The best newspaper of the world.

[@todd1770]

😅😅😅😅😅

[@rettro6578]

😂😂😂

[@bojanm986]

Let's learn from the experience: how did Japanese react when USA actually dropped nuclear bombs?

[@seanlander9321]

They surrendered and then adopted peace and democracy to become civilised.

[@kjj26k]

Well Japan did not have atomic weapons of their own so... completely unhelpful.

[@seanlander9321]

@@kjj26k Japan reacted by surrendering. Australia and America then occupied it and forced the Japanese to become peaceful and civilised, then they left when their job was done. End of.

[@user-sp9ue1ws7c]

@@seanlander9321because they didn’t have their own nuclear bombs to defend themselves. It’s different in this situation because both sides have thousands of nukes. A nuclear war could destroy the planet. Right now planet destruction is basically the response plan that both sides have if either one launches a nuke.

[@fh5926]

They really, really, really wished they could retaliate.

[@chrismai1889]

I am much less worried about Russia using nuclear weapons than I am about the EU and US neocons losing their calm and the denial that is also apparent in this guy's statements only reenforces this evaluation.

[@user-lv6rn9cf8m]

What an insane take.

[@kennethvenezia4400]

Look, I hope it never happens, but truth be told, I really don't care. I have only one concern, and that is how can I make sure my cat can survive. I've been pondering this question for 2 years now, and I'm building him a kitty bunker with an escape hatch that will pop open automatically after 6 months. I worked out a kinetic energy feeding system and cat box. It's the only thing I care about.😺

[@sebastianforbes1]

I guess we'd bury ourselves in bunkers, cross our fingers, and blame Putin ?

[@user-wv8tm2iv9b]

We should blame ourselves for Vladolf genociding our families?

[@enriquelaroche5370]

the only question with any relevance is when will Nukes be used?

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

Ah, so this explain's Germany's exceptionally timid response then... Step 1) Assume that everyone in Russia is irrational and without a sense of self-preservation. Step 2) Assume anything could snowball into nuclear war without anyone with a sense of self-preservation stopping and thinking "Do I really want to end the world?" Step 3) Conflate "escalation" with "escalation TO nuclear war" because irrational snowball. Step 4) Avoid EVERYTHING like the plague that might be seen as escalating the situation even slightly because escalation = nuclear war.

[@user-vh1qp1uz2d]

Send the staff home, award themselves a bonus for being in a war zone. Tell member countries its their problem. Then go on holiday, far away.

[@ericwillis777]

Why don't these experts make comparatIve analysis with the potential for mass use of gas in WW2 ?

[@free-rangemotorcycling3677]

More prevalent in WW1, I think :)

[@IDNeon357]

​@free-rangemotorcycling3677 the point is why wasn't it prevalent in WW2

[@canadiangemstones7636]

@@IDNeon357Gas is a trash weapon, dependent on wind direction.

[@TheLucanicLord]

I imagine they'd be somewhat miffed, to say the least.

[@AnthonyCarroll-ue3uv]

I reckon they would be ok with it. 😎

[@Tarx66]

1:00 - miten reagoisitte jos EU+USA käyttäisi ydinasetta väärää vihollista vastaan?

[@lupetto0615]

Simple logic says that nuclear exchange will almost happen for sure if two nuclear powers attack each other. On the other hand, I can't imagine US, UK or France exchanging nukes with Russia if a non-nuclear NATO country gets attacked, for obvious reasons... I am curious what is contingency plan of NATO in case this happens. Hopefully we will never find out...

[@piotrd.4850]

With something referred to as 'underwear incident'.

[@AnthonyTolhurst-dw1nc]

Some won’t have any say at all.

[@notoriousnewts]

Just what the doctor ordered 😂😂😂

[@richardmarsden5610]

If it was against the UK, they would say it wouldn't have happened before Brexit.

[@ip9111]

Probably sounded funnier in your head...

[@free-rangemotorcycling3677]

🤣🤣🤣

[@aranos6269]

EU would not dare to respond in case it might "escalate" the "situation"

[@user-zn5gb2nw9b]

They would express concern and do nothing.

[@ralphclark]

Davis has to be wrong. As a matter of fundamental necessity our military needs to be able to respond decisively and IMMEDIATELY in the event of any international escalation. If for no other reason than that communications might be disrupted and the chain of command broken. So don't be telling us that no preparations have been made and our strategic response will be made up on the hoof. I've never heard anything so stupid.

[@speedboostr]

Only one country has used nuclear weapons

[@Flornmonk]

Only one country is threatening to use nuclear weapons.

[@TheLucanicLord]

And your point is?

[@uschurch]

Destroying an imperial fascist state, who butchered its way across south and east asia, killing millions. Your point is...?

[@chrimbus71]

The EU would split overnight

[@FreeFallingAir]

If France and the UK doesnt defend yall, lol theres just the good ole 🇺🇸

[@user-fh9mq3ux4n]

Calling Ukraine a democracy is like saying NATO is a defensive alliance

[@user-lv6rn9cf8m]

Exactly. Both are verifiably factual statements.

[@mitchyoung93]

Lol we are back to strikes on nuclear reactors. So 2022

[@ibrahimvestin1901]

There is no risk bcuz NATO as a collective is not attacking the formally neutral country Ukraine for which Russia is one of the guardians.

[@uschurch]

I thought muslims shouldn't drink so much alcohol? Or any?

[@richardmarsden5610]

Big difference between the atomic weapons used by the Americans against Japan in August 1945 and the megaton thermonuclear weapons of today. Russia has super-heavy FAB, conventional SRBM and hypersonic weapons to level cities without necessarily resorting to nuclear weapons anyway.

[@yoriko_takaoka]

I thought this red gradient thumbnail was about Gaza-Israel war.

[@speedboostr]

Bring back the dislike count👎

[@stevo6969]

Erm, property protfolio! As a landlord, I would still expect my tenants to fulfill their obligations. Thermonuclear war or not, they will still be evicted if there is no rent money transfer every 2 weeks.

[@Andre_XX]

There might be nothing to buy with your money.

[@hjyryui]

i think he was being facetious dude@@Andre_XX

[@hansjorgkunde3772]

what real estate ? its gone in case of a nuclear war.

[@ot1438]

lol

[@kevinakling]

Parts would melt. If the nukes worked. I’ll bet 80% don’t. Still don’t want to risk it tho 🤣. God please give the Russians a break. We all need it. CCP too. Imagine if those two fell (on their own). This year. What would 2025 look like? Better, I would think…

[@JohnSmith-ti2kp]

Five minutes in and only B.S. answers, enough.

[@tonysherwood9619]

Only if the usa requires it!

[@smalltimep]

Quiver

[@crimeajewel]

❤❤❤❤❤🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 ❤❤❤❤❤

[@AA-eq5wk]

stop censoring comments

[@innerdinosaur2898]

Слава Україні! 🇺🇦🦖✊

[@user-ly5pd1sb7z]

на фронт пойдешь ?

[@JuicyTobacco]

@@user-ly5pd1sb7z Heroyem slava!

[@katesmiles4208]

More chance, iran would use a low yield one in the region.

[@user-wv8tm2iv9b]

Ok bye Teheran. Farewell.

[@dalecrocker3213]

The EU would poop its pants and go to Russia begging for mercy.

[@reduk1999]

NATO would shoot them out of the sky even if they could launch thier outdated missiles

[@dalecrocker3213]

@@reduk1999 Dream on.

[@edmend55]

​@reduk1999 look at trident... can't even launch. Russia does not have these issues

[@user-wv8tm2iv9b]

​@@edmend55Russia's latest ICBM test failed as well.

[@davidshapiro292]

@@reduk1999 nato can barely shoot down iranian flying lawn Mowers in ukraine let alone ICBMS going hypersonic speeds.

[@NotoriousNewts1]

Maybe the pansies would grow some balls from the fallout and stand on their own 2 Feet!

[@wesley135]

Slava ukraini

[@skepticalbadger]

NEW-CLEAR. FFS.

[@attilaszanto1144]

The EU would not have the chance to respond, 🙀🙀🙀 🥂👍😜♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@adrien5834]

That's wishful thinking. Our nuclear deterrent is at sea.

[@mikefallwell1301]

In the past nuclear weapons were a substitute for expensive Conventional Weapons period today it is different Conventional Weapons like drones are more economical than nuclear weapons. This is why Biden has said he could respond with Conventional Weapons🎉🎉🎉

[@patrickbeguin6719]

The stupidity drips…

[@rettro6578]

Do these fools not understanding Mutually Assured Destruction? Talking as if this is a casual convo over tea and crumpets.

[@thedon1004]

They clearly don't. In every thread they ignore the facts on the ground and keep calling for the next step up the escalation ladder. Most of them keep calling Putin, Putler without understanding they are supporting a Banderite regime. Barely a 90+ IQ among the whole lot of them.

[@Niphern]

Russian Leaders are maniacs

[@A.L.-tt1np]

A complete collapse, blackout of Ukrainian territory was arranged for the unwanted pensioner PrezeZelensky and "Kharkovoblenergo" (russia could not do this) disconnecting the electricity for several months in order to close his mouth and freedom of speech. And everything is covered by law enforcement officers and the DBI of Ukraine. Полный коллапс, блекаут на украинской территории устроил неугодному пенсионеру ПрезеЗеленский и "Харьковоблэнерго" (раша этого не смогла сделать), отключив электричество на несколько месяцев с целью закрыть рот и свободу слова. И всё крышуется (покрывается)правоохранителями и ДБР Украины.

[@user-wv8tm2iv9b]

I can't believe people get payed for this 💩.

[@jainorman3425]

It's in the EU best interest to stay out of Russia business before we all turn into glass.

[@uschurch]

We're not cowards. Putin and his bootlickers started something they will regret very soon.

[@BruceJ999]

NATO:Encircles Russia with plans to invade and destroy them. RUSSIA:Resets the world with nukes

[@uschurch]

vatnik fantasy on steroids :)

[@BruceJ999]

@@uschurch Cry more

[@maxruedy951]

I think if one nuke is used it will spiral out of control so fast that before cooler heads can prevail it will snowball into all out nuclear war.I seriously doubt putin has ever seen Wargames,he doesn't know the only way to win the game is not to play.

[@RyanBrown-nx8dw]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂