This thesis examines how the United States of America (USA) acted in response to the Russian nuclear threats following the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022. This thesis uses an ends-ways-means approach but focuses on the ways-perspective to describe how the USA acted. The two strategic ways that are compared to analyze the USA’s actions are deterrence and de-escalation.The conclusion is that the USA used a nuclear strategy best described as de-escalation. This raises questions regarding the credibility of American nuclear deterrence in Europe.