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CIA director William Burns warned Putin’s spy chief against the use of a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
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Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia, met with his Russian counterpart in Ankara on Monday.
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Burns previously warned that Putin could use a nuke in Ukraine if he feels desperate enough.
CIA Director William Burns met with Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, and warned against using a nuclear weapon in the war in Ukraine, the White House said on Monday.
A White House spokesperson said that Burns did not conduct negotiations of any kind as he met with Naryshkin in Ankara, explaining that “he is conveying a message on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, and the risks of escalation to strategic stability.”
The spokesperson also said that Kyiv was briefed before the trip and emphasized that the Biden administration will continue to uphold a policy of not holding official talks on Ukraine without the involvement of the Ukrainian government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made repeated nuclear threats since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, sparking concerns that he might actually follow through if the Russian leader’s invasion fails to achieve its objectives.
In April, Burns warned that Putin could use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine if he feels desperate enough.
“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons,” Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia, said in remarks at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Since those remarks, Russia’s fortunes in Ukraine have turned from bad to worse, with Russian forces losing ground to major Ukrainian counteroffensives.
The CIA director’s comments aside, many military analysts and nuclear experts have expressed doubts that Russia would go as far as to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, contending that Moscow’s nuclear threats are largely designed to deter the West from continuing to offer security assistance to Kyiv. Some analysts have also expressed doubts that the depleted Russian military could even pull off such an attack. Russian forces have sustained significant losses since the war began, with casualties estimated to be as high as 100,000.
Meanwhile, there are signs that Russia’s global partners, including Beijing, would turn against the Kremlin if it took such a drastic step.
President Joe Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Bali on Monday. A White House readout of their meeting said the two world leaders “reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
