Putin To Use Nuclear Weapons Only If Faced With Existential Threat - US Intelligence Chief

Russian President Vladimir Putin would use nuclear weapons only if he perceives an existential threat to the Russian state but can resort to nuclear rhetoric to deter Washington from sending military aid to Ukraine, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2022) Russian President Vladimir Putin would use nuclear weapons only if he perceives an existential threat to the Russian state but can resort to nuclear rhetoric to deter Washington from sending military aid to Ukraine, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Tuesday.

"We believe that Moscow continues to use nuclear rhetoric to deter the United States and the West from increasing lethal aid to Ukraine," Haines told a US Senate hearing. "We otherwise continue to believe the President Putin would probably only authorize the use of nuclear weapons if he perceived an existential threat to the Russian state or regime."

Haines also said she believes Putin may try to deter Washington from assisting Ukraine by conducting another large-scale exercise involving intercontinental missiles, heavy bombers, or strategic submarines.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it has never threatened and does not threaten anyone with its nuclear arsenal, while Kiev was the first to talk about canceling the Budapest memorandum of 1994, according to which Ukraine renounces its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from the other three signatories - Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States, Turkey and neighboring states could become guarantors of Ukraine's security in a new agreement that would replace the Budapest Memorandum.

On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Ministry of Defense said the operation is solely targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure and the civilian population is not in danger.