CIA chief urges West not to be frightened by Kremlin's nuclear threats

William Burns, Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), believes that Western leaders should not fear the Kremlin's threats of nuclear escalation.

Source: Burns at a Financial Times event in London on Saturday, 7 September, as reported by European Pravda, citing the Guardian

Details: Burns referenced Russia's nuclear threats in the autumn of 2022 as an example of why such statements should not always be taken at face value.

"Putin’s a bully. He’s going to continue to sabre rattle from time to time.

We cannot afford to be intimidated by that sabre rattling," the CIA chief stressed.

However, Burns emphasised that the risk of escalation should not be underestimated. He also admitted that in 2022, the CIA genuinely believed Russia might use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

"There was a moment in the fall [autumn] of 2022 when I think there was a genuine risk of potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," Burns said, referring to Ukraine's offensive in Kherson Oblast and the pushing of Russian forces from the right (west) bank of the Dnipro River.

He recalled that in November 2022, US President Joe Biden sent him to Türkiye to deliver a warning to Sergei Naryshkin, Head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, about "the consequences of that kind of escalation".

Background:

• The meeting between Burns and Naryshkin was only disclosed after it occurred. According to media reports, the discussion centred on the US's readiness to deploy non-nuclear weapons against Russian targets, with the potential for "significant consequences."
• On 7 September, for the first time, the CIA chief spoke at a joint event with Richard Moore, Director of UK intelligence agency MI6, where they discussed the impact of the Ukrainian operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast on Russian elites.

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