CIA Chief reveals 2022 nuclear threat during Ukraine offensive
During an event organised by the "Financial Times" in London, CIA Chief William Burns admitted that in 2022, there was a real risk of Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine. He emphasized that this occurred during the Ukrainian army's autumn counteroffensive.
The CIA Chief acknowledged that the Ukrainian counteroffensive, conducted in autumn 2022, alerted the USA. There were fears that the territorial gains of the Ukrainians would prompt the authorities in the Kremlin to resort to the ultimate weapon - tactical nuclear weapons.
"There was a moment in the fall of 2022 when I think there was a genuine risk of a potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," admitted William Burns during a joint panel with the head of British MI6.
Intervention by the White House
Burns said that Joe Biden reacted then. The US President instructed the CIA Chief to speak with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, urgently. He was to remind him of the consequences that would ensue from the potential use of nuclear weapons.
Earlier, in February 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the authorities of China and India for helping to dissuade Vladimir Putin from the intention of using tactical nuclear weapons.
Sabotage across Europe
The heads of the CIA and MI6 assert that Russia is conducting a sabotage campaign across Europe. The United Kingdom and USA face an "unprecedented array of threats", and the global order is at its most serious tension since the Cold War, they admitted in an article published in the "Financial Times".
