The Biden administration no longer denies strikes on Crimea using American equipment.
The US overestimated the risks of Russia’s use of nuclear weapons. The White House believes that the Russian Federation will not take such a step and no longer objects to strikes on Crimea using American-made equipment and ammunition.
This was stated by the former commander of the US Army in Europe, retired lieutenant general Ben Hodges, in an interview with the newspaper “Today”. He said: “We overestimated the risks of escalation by Russia using nuclear weapons. Because of this [мы] made decisions about supplies gradually, instead of telling Ukraine: “This is all you need, and we will give you more soon.” And now the White House is increasingly confident that Russia will not use nuclear weapons. I am personally convinced of this. And the White House, for example, is not even against the strikes of the Ukrainian army on Russian facilities in Crimea.”
As Hodges reported, the US made it clear that the consequences of using nuclear weapons would be catastrophic. China also told Russia not to do this, because a nuclear strike would not give any advantage on the battlefield. Probably, the Kremlin dictator listened to the statements of the two leading countries of the world.
“I think that Putin is evil, but he is not crazy, and he is not suicidal. Remember how during the pandemic he sat at the table ten meters from the closest advisers. This does not look like a person who does not want to live,” — Hodges concluded.
Nuclear threat from Russia: current information
Experts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that Putin is not ready to take risks, so a nuclear escalation in the war against Ukraine is unlikely. The Russian Federation used these threats to intimidate the West.
Norwegian intelligence said on February 14: “The Kremlin is deliberately creating uncertainty about Russia’s readiness to use nuclear weapons. If the conflict escalates into a regional war involving NATO, Russia may use nuclear weapons on the grounds that the war threatens Russia’s existence. In that case, perhaps the so-called demonstrative use of tactical nuclear weapons.
On the same day, ships of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation went to sea for the first time since the collapse of the USSR with tactical nuclear weapons on board. Norwegian intelligence believes that due to the consumption of three-quarters of the missiles in Ukraine, “non-strategic nuclear weapons will play a more prominent role in the regional defense” of Russia, until the aggressor restores the arsenal of high-precision long-range weapons.
