As the fighting between Ukraine and Russia continues to develop, US and UK officials shared that at the start of the fighting, there was a real danger that Russia would use tactical nuclear weapons.
The remarks came from CIA Director William Burns and his British counterpart, MI6 boss Richard Moore, while the pair was speaking in London.
Burns shared that the United States is taking the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons extremely seriously as the war continues to develop, with Ukraine moving into Russia’s Kursk region.
“None of us should take lightly the risks of escalation,” Burns said at a Financial Times event. “There was a moment in the fall of 2022 when I think there was a genuine risk of . . . the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons.”
Burns did note that Putin was a “bully” and that the CIA has never thought the US should be “unnecessarily intimidated by that.”
Moore appeared to agree, adding that Russia would not stop them from supporting Ukraine.
“As Bill said, nobody in the West is going to be intimidated by such talk or any other behavior by the Russian state because we all recognize we’ve got to stay in this, and we have to try and help the Ukrainians to restore their independence and sovereignty,” Moore said.
Burns said that the biggest threat from Russia came two years ago when Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine faltered.
Now, he says that Ukraine’s incursion of the Kursk region is a “significant tactical achievement” that has only helped in undermining Russian President Putin’s propaganda about the war.
Moore says the move by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “typically audacious and bold” as they “try and change the game.” Still, he says the future of what will happen in the war remains murky.
“It’s too early to say how long the Ukrainians will be able to hang on in there, “ Moore said.