The United States' (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) warned on Thursday, 14 April, that Russian President Vladimir Putin may resort to the use of "low-yield" or "tactical" nuclear weapons due to setbacks faced by the country's military amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
"Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons," said CIA director William Burns, as per a report by news agency AFP.
Burns added that the Biden administration was extremely concerned about the situation erupting into a nuclear confrontation, which would be disastrous for the world at large.
"We're obviously very concerned. I know President Biden is deeply concerned about avoiding a third world war, about avoiding a threshold in which, you know, nuclear conflict becomes possible," he was quoted as saying.
The CIA director, who previously served as the US' ambassador to Moscow, severely criticised President Putin, saying that he was an "apostle of payback... (who) has stood in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity."
Russia's military doctrine includes a principle to "escalate to de-escalate", which means that the country could attack with a low-yield nuclear weapon if complications arise in a potential conflict with western countries.
However, if such a situation arises, "NATO would intervene militarily on the ground in Ukraine in the course of this conflict, and that's not something, as President Biden has made very clear, that's in the cards," Burns said, as per AFP.
(With inputs from AFP.)
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