The saber rattling generated by Russia’s nuclear weapons has caught the attention of top US intelligence officials, some of whom are expressing growing concern that the Kremlin is turning to its nuclear arsenal as it faces “potential desperation.” ” in Ukraine.
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, warned Thursday that the world should not underestimate Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose appetite for risk has only grown “as his control over Russia has strengthened. ”.
“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership due to the setbacks they have faced militarily thus far, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by the potential resource of tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons.” Burns said during a speech to students at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, also known as Georgia Tech.
“We are obviously very concerned,” he said, noting that Putin has an “almost mystical belief that his destiny is to restore Russia’s sphere of influence,” which includes bringing Ukraine under Moscow’s rule.
Russia first put its nuclear deterrent on high alert on February 27, just three days after sending troops to Ukraine, citing aggressive NATO statements and Western economic sanctions.
another warning
On Thursday, one of Putin’s closest allies also warned that Russia would plant nuclear warheads in the Baltic if Sweden and Finland decided to join the Atlantic alliance.
“There can be no more talk of a nuclear-weapon-free state for the Baltic; the balance must be restored,” said Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council.
Medvedev said Russia would plant warheads in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea that is 500 kilometers from Berlin and less than 1,400 kilometers from London and Paris.
The Lithuanian Defense Minister downplayed the Russian threat, considering it nothing new.
“Nuclear weapons have always been kept in Kaliningrad, the international community, the countries of the region, are perfectly aware of this,” Arvydas Anusauskas told the news service. BNS of Lithuania.
‘Worried’
Still, the head of America’s top spy agency warned Thursday that Russia’s nuclear threats deserve attention.
“Over the years I have learned never to underestimate Putin’s ruthless determination, especially in Ukraine,” said Burns, who met with Putin in Moscow last November, hoping to dissuade the Russian leader from invading Ukraine.
“I was concerned from what I heard,” Burns said.
Despite his concern, the CIA director said US intelligence has yet to see evidence that Moscow is preparing to use any of its nuclear arsenal.
“While we have seen some rhetorical posturing by the Kremlin, moving to higher nuclear alert levels, so far we have not seen much practical evidence of the kind of military deployments or dispositions that would reinforce that concern,” he said.
US defense officials have previously described Russia’s decision to put its nuclear deterrent forces on high alert in February as “an unnecessary escalation” but say they have yet to see anything that requires a US response.
“We’re obviously watching that very closely,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters during a briefing on Thursday. “We haven’t seen anything in space that has given us reason to change our position. [de disuasión nuclear] in a tangible way.
“It’s not something we take for granted,” he added.
The latest US security package for Ukraine, approved Wednesday, includes equipment designed to protect Ukrainian forces from nuclear, biological and chemical exposure.
Russian war crimes
During his speech on Thursday, Burns warned that “the last chapter of Putin’s war has yet to be written,” saying Russia was unlikely to depart from its current vicious strategies.
“I have no doubts about the pain and cruel damage that Putin can continue to inflict on Ukraine, or the raw brutality with which Russian force is applied,” he said.
China
The US spy chief also called China “a silent partner in Putin’s aggression” in Ukraine, adding that Beijing poses a threat to the United States and the West in its own right.
China “is our greatest challenge, in many ways the most profound test the CIA has ever faced,” Burns said. “As an intelligence service, we have never had to deal with an adversary with more reach in more domains.”
* Some of the information for this report came from Reuters.
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