CIA Director Says Real Danger of Russian Nuclear Weapons at the Beginning of War in Ukraine

CIA Director William Burns has declared there has been real danger for Russia to use nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine in the fall of 2022, despite stressing that the West should not be intimidated by Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats.

The “None of us should take lightly the risks of escalation”, Burns said Saturday in a conversation with the UK's secret intelligence chief, Richard Moore, broadcast Telegrafi.

There was a moment in autumn 2022, when I think there was real danger of potential use of nuclear weapons”, Burns said.

I've never thought and this is the view of even the agency that leads that we should be unduly afraid of this”, the first American CIA member added.

At the order of President Joe Biden, Burns met with Russian counterpart Sergey Naryskin at the end of 2022 to repeat “the results of the nuclear escalation, the CIA director indicated.

“We continued to be direct to this”, Burns added.