The United States on Wednesday said it was increasingly concerned about the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, following a media report that senior Russian military officials had recently discussed that option.
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“We are increasingly concerned about that possibility as these months have passed.”John Kirby, spokesman for Homeland Security at the White House, an advisory body to President Joe Biden, told reporters.
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Kirby did not confirm a report in The New York Times that maintains that High-ranking Russian military officials recently discussed when and how they might use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield.
The report, which cites unnamed US officials, notes that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not participate in the discussions and that there was no indication that the Russian military had decided to deploy such weapons.
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Kirby called any comments about Russia’s use of nuclear weapons “deeply troubling” and said the United States takes them seriously.
He also evoked recent Putin’s comments alluding to nuclear weapons and the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II.
(In context: Russia debates use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, according to the New York Times)
We are increasingly concerned about that possibility as these months have passed.
However, Kirby said that Washington sees no indication that Russia is making preparations to use nuclear weapons, adding that US intelligence services do not necessarily see or know everything.
Western countries accuse Russia of using the threat of nuclear war to dissuade them from supporting Ukraine in the face of an invasion launched by Moscow in late February.
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On Tuesday, the former Russian president and current number two of the Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, stated that Ukraine’s intention to recover all occupied territories, including Crimea or Donbas, “threatens the existence of our state” and offers “a direct reason” to use “nuclear deterrence.”
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said Wednesday that the Western media is “deliberately inflating the issue of the use of nuclear weapons.” Moscow “has not the slightest intention of participating in this,” he said, calling the Times report “highly irresponsible.”
What does Russia say?
The Kremlin denounced on Wednesday that the West is “inflating” the issue of the use of nuclear weapons and assured that Moscow does not plan to participate in these discussions.
“We have to verify that in the West, at the official level and in the media, the issue of nuclear weapons is being deliberately inflated“Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov added that Moscow has no intention of participating in such discussions, which he considers “very irresponsible.”
The New York Times wrote on Wednesday that senior Russian military officials have recently discussed Moscow’s use of a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, adding to concerns in Washington and allied capitals.
According to the New York newspaper, which cites senior US officials as sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of those talks, which took place as Russia’s nuclear rhetoric increased and Russian military forces suffered setbacks in the field. of battle.
However, US officials said they had seen no evidence that the Russians were planting nuclear weapons or taking other tactical steps to prepare for an attack. And they also did not describe the scenarios that military leaders considered for the hypothetical use of a nuclear weapon.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared today for his part that Ukraine is ready to host on its territory nuclear weapons from NATO member countries.
“We know of kyiv’s attempts to create a ‘dirty nuclear bomb’, and also of its willingness to place nuclear weapons from NATO countries on its territory,” the Russian Defense Minister said.
Shoigu blamed Washington and European capitals for “ignoring the nuclear blackmail” of kyiv and “its provocations against the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.”
Meanwhile, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested the day before that the alternative to Russia’s victory in Ukraine is a “world war using nuclear weapons.”
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and EFE
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