that pushing the bright shiny red button becomes extra tempting for him. The only potential saving grace to that thought is the Donbas Region's valuable resources that Putin may find very (or extremely?) attractive. He pushes that red button, then he risks contaminating the Donbas Region too. Plus, if he is going to go the nuclear option, then he can't use just 1 nuke on Kyiv. Most likely he will have to use multiple nukes, just like the US did in WWII, to justify the international consequences for Russia's action.
[Post edited by VTHokie2000 at 02/28/2022 5:28PM]