2024-09-08T15:36:00+03:00 Politics 2024-09-22T04:00:02+03:00

Ukrainian news

Risk of russia using nuclear weapons against Ukraine was real at beginning of war - CIA head

Risk of russia using nuclear weapons against Ukraine was real at beginning of war - CIA head

The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William (Bill) Burns, said there was a "real risk" that russia would use tactical nuclear weapons in the first months of a full-scale war in Ukraine.

He said this at the FT Weekend festival in London, The Telegraph reports.

So, Burns said that the sudden breakthrough of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the northeast of the country raised fears that russian leader vladimir putin would resort to extreme measures, which caused a surge in diplomatic activity.

"There was a point in the fall of 2022 when, in my opinion, there was a real risk of potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," Burns said during a conversation with the head of Britain's MI-6 foreign intelligence service.

He added: "The President has sent me to speak with our russian counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, at the end of 2022 to explain very clearly what the consequences of such an escalation would be, and we continue to be very forthright about that. I don't think we can afford to be intimidated by this saber-rattling or intimidation, [but] we have to remember that."

Burns traveled to Ankara, Turkey in November 2022 to meet with Naryshkin in what was believed to be the first face-to-face meeting between senior officials from the two countries since russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the publication recalled.

A White House statement at the time said: "He conveys a message about the consequences of russia's use of nuclear weapons and the risks of escalation to strategic stability."

In October 2022, there were fears of a possible russian attack under a foreign flag after the Minister of Defense of the aggressor state, Sergei Shoigu, said that Ukraine was allegedly going to use a radioactive "dirty bomb".

The UK immediately rejected the claims, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was clear that russia had planned the dirty bomb attack itself.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the head of the CIA, Burns, sees the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk Oblast as a "significant tactical achievement." It is still too early to say how long the Armed Forces of Ukraine will control the territory of the russian federation, the head of MI-6 Moore is convinced. They promised support to Ukraine.