The White House believes that the US response to this threat should be non-nuclear, but noted that it should be some kind of “dramatic reaction.”
The White House’s concerns in late 2022 that Russia could launch a nuclear attack on Ukraine are so deep that the US presidential administration has created working groups to develop a response plan, The New York Times reported, citing unidentified US officials.
According to the publication, the White House believes that the US response to this threat should not be nuclear, but noted that it should be some kind of “dramatic reaction” – perhaps even a conventional attack on the units that launched nuclear weapons.
The administration of President Biden is convinced that otherwise they risk attracting not only the Russian dictator Putin, but also any other head of authority with a nuclear arsenal, big or small, the publication said.
According to the NYT, some believe that Russia’s public warnings that Ukraine appears to be preparing to use a “dirty bomb” are a pretext for a preemptive nuclear strike.
War games in the Pentagon and think tanks around Washington speculate that Putin’s use of tactical weapons — perhaps with the added threat of detonating more — could occur in a variety of circumstances, the newspaper notes.
One of the simulations, the material said, assumed a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive, which would endanger Russia’s hold on Crimea, while the other included Moscow’s demand for the West to stop all of military support for Kyiv to split NATO.
The NYT said that in mid-November 2022, CIA Director William Burns met with the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, where the former made it clear that “there will be clear consequences for Russia.”
American officials did not say exactly how Burns told Naryshkin the nature of the United States’ response.
“Naryshkin swore that he understood and that Putin did not intend to use nuclear weapons,” the CIA director said.
Let’s remember that on February 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his speech to the Federal Assembly, threatened “tragic consequences” for countries that decided to send their military to Ukraine.
The EU commented on Putin’s statements, noting that nuclear threats are completely unacceptable and inappropriate. And the United States recalled that they had already warned Russia about the consequences of using nuclear weapons.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.