Vladimir Putin is increasingly cornered – is he playing the nuclear card?

Brussels, Berlin With his signature, Vladimir Putin sealed the decree on the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson on Wednesday morning. But the Russian President is unlikely to be in a celebratory mood.

His army has to give up village after village in the areas that Putin says should belong to Russia “forever”. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted a video of artillery fire and commented: “We won’t stop until we liberate all of Ukraine’s territories.”

The Kremlin boss, who wanted to take Ukraine by storm, is increasingly on the defensive. What options does the Russian president have now? What scenarios are there? And how might the West respond?

EU foreign policy representative speaks of “worrying scenario”