According to Bill Burns, head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, the Russian president is a bully who likes to threaten.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin nuclear threats should not be taken seriously, the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency CIA Bill Burns said on Saturday. Reported about it including The Guardian.
– Putin is a bully. He will continue his occasional sabre-wielding, Burns said.
Burns commented on the issue at a discussion event in London, where he appeared together with the head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence service by Richard Moore with.
– We can’t afford to be afraid of (Putin’s) sabre-rattling… however, we have to follow it.
According to Burns, the United States was suspicious of Putin’s nuclear weapons threat in the fall of 2022. Ukraine had driven Russian forces to retreat, and the Russian leadership was flashing extreme retaliation measures to intimidate Western allies.
According to Burns, the situation constituted a “potential threat to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.”
According to Burns, the President of the United States Joe Biden tasked him with delivering a warning to the Russians. Burns did indeed meet with the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service by Sergei Naryshkin In Turkey in November 2022.
According to Burns, he told Naryshkin “very clearly” what the consequences of Russia’s use of nuclear weapons would be. The nuclear threats did not come true.