"Bragged?"

I take issue with the assertion that President Putin "bragged" when he stated there is no defense against Russian hypersonic missiles capable of reaching U.S. cities. A more accurate word in my opinion would be "cautioned," Mr. Putin having expressed concern on numerous occasions not only that U.S. decision-makers seem to have lost their fear of nuclear weapons, but that they are also increasingly attacking targets inside the Russian Federation.

On June 5, in a meeting with the with heads of international news agencies, he urged Western voices amplifying speculation about using nuclear weapons to calm down and not create a self-fulfilling prophesy; and on June 7, in a dialog at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, he stated unequivocally that Russia's conventional forces are more than sufficient to defend Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the current context. He stated further that Russia's nuclear doctrine is readily available for anyone to read and that there is no reason for it to be invoked at the present time.

Western media, which have been demonizing President Putin incessantly ever since his speech at the 2007 Munich Security Conference, constantly distort his statements regarding nuclear weapons – all of which are available online and anyone can listen to at their leisure – to give the impression he is "threatening," "warning," and "bragging" about them, if not on the verge of using them.

The so-called "world leaders" confronting Mr. Putin are engaging in dangerous, provocative, and aggressive military behaviour in response to which he is simply making the objective point that if this goes too far, Russia's nuclear doctrine could come into play and this is something no one is their right mind wants to happen.

There used to be a thing called nuclear deterrence.

It was based on fear of the unimaginable destructive capability of nuclear weapons. Russia is a nuclear superpower. President Putin urges a diplomatic resolution of the conflict between the U.S. and Russia at every opportunity, and when the U.S. and its vassals escalate – as now, with their Ukrainian proxy attacking inside Russia – he cautions that nuclear war must be averted diplomatically because if Russia's nuclear doctrine is triggered, civilization as we know it will likely come to an end.