THE CIA sees no indication that Russia is preparing to use it regularly nuclear weapons in war with Ukrainesaid today the head of the American secret service Bill Burns.
“We do not see at this stage, as an intelligence service, any concrete evidence that Russia is preparing for the development or even the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons,” he told a forum organized by the Financial Times.
“Given the pro-war statements (…) we have heard from Russian leaders, we can not take these chances lightly,” Burns said, adding that the CIA was closely monitoring the situation.
Russia has alerted “deterrence” forces, including its nuclear weapons, shortly after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has even threatened to give a “swift and thunderous response” in the event of an “outside intervention” in the war.
According to Burns, Putin believes he can not afford to lose to Ukraine and is determined to continue the war. “I think he is in such a state of mind that he believes he can not be defeated,” he said, adding that the Russian leader “is convinced that if he redoubles his efforts he will make progress.”
China is monitoring the crisis and drawing conclusions about Taiwan
Burns also said that China is closely monitoring the Ukrainian crisis and will likely, based on the information it receives, adjust its plans to bring Taiwan under its control.
“Chinese leaders are closely watching the lessons they can learn from Ukraine in terms of their own ambitions in Taiwan,” he said. “I think they were particularly surprised by the way NATO joined forces to impose economic sanctions on Russia in response to its attack,” he said.
China was “troubled by the fact that Putin has brought Europeans and Americans closer together,” he added.
“As for the conclusions I came to, that remains unanswered.”
According to Burns, the Chinese leadership is considering the “costs and consequences” of a possible use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Source: News Beast
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