Amid escalating tactics from both sides, Vladimir Putin has issued nuclear warnings, while President Joe Biden has been rallying allies in an effort to defend democracies. All this is happening as gold makes its own appearance in this equation, being at the centre of new sanctions and driving a shift away from U.S. dollar hegemony.

In this post, we will explore how gold is playing a pivotal role in this conflict and how that could shape the future of global stability.

Putin gives a nuclear warning, Biden rallies allies - reads a Reuters headline three days before the one-year mark of Russia invading Ukraine. Also, the escalation of tactics and rhetoric is seen on both sides. The Reuters article went on to say:

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been sparring verbally, presenting starkly different views of the world and the Ukraine war, with Biden promising to defend democracies and Putin asserting the West was a threat to Russia.

Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv and Poland this week to show United States (and NATO) support for Ukraine "there should be no doubt: Our support for Ukraine will not waver, NATO will not be divided, and we will not tire".

For his part, Putin suspended a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty, announced new strategic systems were on combat duty and warned that Moscow could resume nuclear tests. Putin said: