Senior Russian military leaders discussed how and when they could use nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine in mid-October, two US officials told CBS News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, would not attend the talks.
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The White House said it has been “increasingly concerned” in recent months about the potential use of nuclear weapons.
However, he stressed that the US saw no signs that Russia was preparing for such a use.
The statement coincides with previous Western intelligence assessments that Moscow has not moved its nuclear weapons.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of “deliberately taking the matter to a greater extent”, although the timing of the high-level Russian military discussions in mid-October was important.
In late September, Putin stepped up his anti-nuclear and anti-Western rhetoric, even talking about using every means at his disposal to protect Russia and the occupied Ukrainian territory it has annexed.
“This is not a bluff,” he added, accusing the West of nuclear blackmail and boasting of Russian weapons more modern than the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) arsenal.
“As the months go by, we become more and more concerned about the possibility,” said White House National Security spokesman John Kirby, in response to reports in the US media that Russia was discussing the use of nuclear weapons.
As Russia’s battlefield fortunes dwindle, its nuclear threats seem to increase.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of preparing a “dirty bomb” containing radioactive material, but Ukraine and the West say Russia is trying to create an excuse to blame Kiev if such a device is used.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu drew attention to reaching out to his colleagues in the United States, Turkey and France to talk about the alleged Ukraine plot.
However, when the Russian Ministry of Defense sent photos to illustrate its findings, the Slovenian government immediately identified that the images were from the Radioactive Waste Management Agency and showed smoke detectors from 2010.
In recent weeks, Russia’s nuclear doctrine has come under close scrutiny regarding the conditions under which it could use nuclear weapons, particularly a “tactical” weapon that could be deployed on the battlefield in Ukraine.
A tactical nuclear weapon is for use in warfare, as opposed to larger “strategic” weapons designed to cause mass destruction.
When Russia conducted routine nuclear exercises last week, the scenario used was for the country to retaliate against an enemy’s nuclear attack with a larger-scale strategic weapon. Putin was adamant that Russia’s nuclear doctrine only allows for the defensive use of nuclear weapons.
But on Tuesday, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s security council, highlighted another element of Russia’s doctrine. nuclear use in the event of an existential threat to the state. He pointed out that the purpose of the war in Ukraine was to take back all the lands that previously belonged to them, and that this in itself is an existential threat.
Medvedev may not have influence over the president, but his comments reflect Putin’s belief that even though they are not recognized by the international community as part of Russia, the formal annexation of large swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine makes them Russian territory.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated on Wednesday that Moscow has the right to use nuclear weapons in response to “an attack with the use of conventional weapons when the existence of the state is in jeopardy”.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said there would be “serious consequences” if Russia used tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine. And he told lawmakers he wouldn’t speculate on what weapons they might be.
When asked by the BBC last week whether Russia has categorically denied that it will use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the head of the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, said he was very concerned about Western rhetoric and accused the Ukrainian leadership of trying to seize nuclear weapons. nuclear weapons.
– This text was published at http://bbc.co.uk/portuguese/internacional-63484868.
source: Noticias
