So far, there is no practical evidence
CIA takes Putin’s nuclear threat seriously
04/15/2022, 00:22
CIA boss Burns fears that the leadership of the Kremlin under President Putin could be so desperate in the face of military defeats in Ukraine that they will detonate tactical nuclear weapons. So far, however, he has not seen any concrete signs of such a mission.
Given the military setbacks to Russia in Ukraine, the possible threat of a Russian use of tactical nuclear bombs should not be taken lightly, according to CIA chief Bill Burns. Moscow has used threatening gestures when making statements about the increased readiness of its nuclear weapons, but so far the USA has seen little practical evidence such as troop movements or military preparations, said the head of the US foreign intelligence service at a university in the state of Georgia.
Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Burns said: “Given the possible desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the military setbacks experienced so far, none of us can underestimate the threat of the possible use of tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons Shoulder. We don’t do it,” Burns said.
Tactical nuclear weapons are understood to be nuclear weapons whose radius of action and explosive power is significantly lower than that of strategic nuclear weapons. They could theoretically be used in combat as a powerful alternative to conventional weapons. With his policy, US President Joe Biden is trying to “avoid a third world war, to avoid a threshold from which … a nuclear conflict becomes possible,” said the CIA chief.
The President therefore made it clear that neither the USA nor NATO would intervene directly in the war in Ukraine. Concern in the West about Moscow’s possible nuclear weapons plans increased when Putin had Russia’s deterrent weapons put on high alert at the start of the war in Ukraine. Russia also counts its nuclear bombs among these weapons.