Burns quoted the Financial Times as saying Putin is in a state where he doesn’t think he can afford to lose. The CIA chief attended an event organized by the newspaper in Washington over the weekend. According to Burns, Putin is convinced that with even more effort, progress can be made. The east and south-east of Ukraine are particularly hard-fought.
Many are eagerly awaiting Putin’s speech at the annual May 9 military parade in Moscow. Russia has denied rumors that Russia will hold a military parade in the completely destroyed Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. In a dramatic appeal, the soldiers holed up in the steelworks asked the world for help and accused them of simply watching. They felt like they were on a “hellish reality show” – more on that in ORF.at-Liveticker.
No evidence of use of nuclear weapons
CIA Director Burns also said that US intelligence did not see any practical evidence that Russia was planning to use tactical nuclear weapons. However, this possibility should not be taken lightly. Tactical nuclear weapons and nuclear battlefield weapons are understood to mean nuclear weapons whose radius of action and explosive power is significantly lower than that of strategic nuclear weapons that can be used across a continent.
Burns: China unsettled
According to Burns, the war in Ukraine has also unsettled China’s President Xi Jinping. On the one hand, this is due to the damage to China’s reputation caused by the brutality of Russian aggression once morest the Ukrainians, the newspaper continued, citing the CIA chief. Other points are the economic insecurity caused by the war and the close ties between the West and the West.
According to Burns, the Chinese leadership is examining what lessons it should draw for Taiwan. But he doesn’t think their determination to take control of Taiwan has waned. China regards democratic Taiwan as its own territory.
Ex-NATO boss: Biden commitment once morest intervention error
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has meanwhile criticized the strategic commitments of the western defense alliance in the Ukraine war. “Until now, too many NATO partners have been too keen to rule out this or any response. We should never do that,” Rasmussen told the “Presse am Sonntag”.
It was also a mistake that US President Joe Biden firmly ruled out any intervention before the Russian attack. “We should keep our opponent in uncertainty. Anything else just expands Putin’s leeway,” said the former Danish prime minister. “If you specifically exclude ground forces, no-fly zones and other things, then you’re telling Putin what he can do without any risk,” Rasmussen said.
“Never say publicly”
“I agree that a no-fly zone would not have been a smart idea because it would inevitably lead to a conflict between Russia and NATO. But you should never say that in public. In the meantime, NATO has learned from the mistakes,” he said.
Nuclear threat ‘not real’
The right-wing liberal politician described the nuclear threats of the Russian ruler as “not real”. Putin only wants to prevent NATO allies from supplying arms to Ukraine. “Personally, I’m not scared and I’m not worried. Putin knows that if he uses weapons of mass destruction, NATO will respond resolutely. And he would lose.”
Fogh Rasmussen stressed that Putin “must be stopped now”. After all, if he succeeds in Ukraine, his next target will be Moldova, then Georgia, “and maybe he’ll put pressure on the Baltic states.” In this context, the ex-NATO Secretary General also advocated a gas embargo once morest Russia. In this regard, Europe has “a powerful weapon in hand” because Putin cannot simply redirect gas exports to China. It takes years to build the necessary pipelines.