I principle I agree with everything you say. I do have a caveat.
For something to be a deterrent, it must be demonstrated in actual use.
Note that no one has used nuclear weapons since, even as many countries have acquired them. The prospect of mutual annihilation is a deterrent.
It can be argued that Israel, in acquiring nuclear weapons is safer from an all-out attack by hostile neighbours.
OTOH, by threatening to use nuclear weapons Putin has scared the world and placed a death sentence on his existence.
That kind of threat cannot be allowed and Russia must be warned that any use of nuclear weapons, even small tactical weapons, will result in the total destruction of Russia and all of its people by a concerted effort of the rest of the world.
Do we listen when he says it? If he thinks he can scare us, he needs to be reassured that we have heard him and he now must listen to the rest of the world.
I saw something about Putin having blood cancer. He knows heās dying and wants to accomplish some bizarre goal he has had all his life. This is why The US and Russia should not have 5,000 nukes each. No country should have more than 20 or 30, and no single person should have easy access to āthe buttonā for all of them. An alliance of nuclear powers would enforce this by nuking any country that was found to not comply.
I saw that too. I didnāt post it on FB because I didnāt know if it was actually true or not. I think, if itās true, the cancer in his blood has crossed the blood brain barrier and drove him insane.