Marwa Shaheen - Beth:
The CIA considered that given the potential despondency of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian leadership, the threat posed by the potential resort to tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons cannot be underestimated. North Atlantic, will have consequences for these two countries and for European security.
CIA Director William Burns said Russia's threat that it might use tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine cannot be taken lightly, but the agency has seen little empirical evidence to reinforce that concern.
In a speech at the Georgia Institute of Technology, CIA Director William Burns referred to the potential desperation and military setbacks that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government have suffered since the incursion of forces into Ukraine on February 24, and Burns said it is for these reasons None of us can underestimate the threat posed by the potential resort to tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons, and yet, despite the Kremlin's talk of putting the world's largest nuclear arsenal on high alert, we haven't seen much practical evidence of deployments or arrangements Military of the kind that reinforces this concern.
Burns made the comments in response to a question from former US Senator Sam Nunn, a prominent advocate of arms control, at the end of his first speech since taking charge of the CIA in March 2021.
In a speech that covered several topics, the former US diplomat said that the intelligence services began last fall to collect disturbing and detailed information about Putin's plan for a major new invasion of Ukraine. Describing the Russian president as a messenger of revenge, Burns said Putin sees a narrowing opportunity to steer Ukraine away from the West.
Burns, who previously served as a diplomat in Moscow, added that US intelligence has a critical role in Ukraine's fight against Russian forces. He described the crimes committed by those forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha as horrific.
Burns emphasized that the CIA is watching this very closely, but he stressed that the United States has not yet seen any indications that Russia is preparing to take such a step.
"While we have seen some rhetorical positions on the part of the Kremlin about moving to higher levels of nuclear readiness, we have not yet seen much practical evidence of the type of military deployments or arrangements that would reinforce this concern, but we are watching that very closely."
However, in the same remarks, Burns warned that the Russian president was becoming increasingly isolated and that "his appetite for risk has increased as he tightens his grip on Russia."
"His circle of advisors narrowed, and in that small circle his career could never have been furthered to question his judgment or his stubborn, almost vague belief that his destiny was to restore Russia's sphere of influence," Burns said.
Russia had threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in and around the Baltic Sea region if Finland and Sweden joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“In this case, it is not possible to talk about a non-nuclear situation in the Baltic Sea,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council and former Russian president, said in a telegram post on Thursday, April 14, 2022, referring to the possibility of Russia deploying ships. Armed with Iskander missiles, hypersonic weapons and nuclear weapons in the region.”
Bloomberg Agency commented on Medvedev's threats as one of the most detailed threats issued by Russia regarding the possibility of the two northern neighbors joining the alliance, after decades of choosing to stay outside the alliance. Finland and Sweden announced during the past few days that they are working closely to study the matter, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a televised interview that all countries of the world should be prepared for the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine.
"As for chemical weapons, they can do it (meaning they can use them), for them people's lives are nothing," he added. That is why we should think not to be afraid and not to be afraid, but to be prepared, but this is not a question for Ukraine, not only for Ukraine but for the whole world, I think».
On the other hand, the head of the Federation Council Committee for the Protection of Russian State Sovereignty, Andrei Klimov, said that the special military operation in Ukraine will end soon. "The Russian special military operation will end very soon, and we will not intentionally extend it," he added.
He continued, "As soon as we make Ukraine safe for Russia and the whole world, and guarantee the safety of biological laboratories, we will see what happens there. We will guarantee the safety of nuclear facilities... After that, the military phase will stop," noting that this will happen soon.