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Rolf Movat-Larsen said the West would be “irresponsible” in considering Putin’s threats as a “hoax”.
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The former CIA official said it appeared that Western leaders were taking the threats very seriously.
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He added that as Ukraine grows stronger, Putin may see nuclear weapons as his “only good option”.
Rolf Mowat-Larsen, a former CIA station chief in Moscow, warned that it would be “grossly irresponsible” for Western leaders not to take Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear war threats seriously.
Michael Morrell, host of CBS’s “Intelligence Matters” podcast and former acting director of the CIA, asked Mowat-Larsen during an episode of the podcast uploaded Wednesday if he thought Putin’s threat to use strategic nuclear weapons was a hoax or a real threat.
Mowat-Larsen replied: “It would be highly irresponsible, Michael, if there were any Western leaders to see these threats as blatant, loud or meaningless.”
“I’m pretty sure all Western leaders, at least from the people I know and the things I hear, take threats very seriously,” he said.
However, despite the threat, Mowat-Larsen said he believed there was no “military reason” for Putin to use nuclear weapons.
“In other words, he cannot use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield to win a war, he cannot win with an army,” he said. “Nuclear weapons don’t capture areas. They do not occupy areas. It’s a way of trying to hit an enemy that you can’t stop with an asymmetrical weapon of mass destruction. This is the danger.
Movat-Larsen said that as Russian forces weaken and Ukrainians grow stronger and refuse to accept a ceasefire, the risk of Putin using nuclear weapons as the “only good option” will increase. “. I can see.
Movat-Larsen said of Putin: “Now it suddenly looks like he might think – and I think it’s a terribly wrong decision if it comes to this – that if he uses these weapons, he will benefit.”
Commenting on the reasons why Ukraine announced it would not negotiate with Russia, Movat-Larsen said it would be an act of dedication to Ukraine and its leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
And he’s not in the mood for it. She fought too much. He lost too much, “he said of Zelensky.” So it means he can continue to challenge Putin by continuing his attacks and escalating the fighting on the pitch. So that puts Vladimir Putin in a bad position, because if he can, his options are too. reduce.
Putin has occupied four regions of Ukraine – Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk and Luhansk – which together cover about 15% of the total area of Ukraine. Then comes the announcement of the Russian president bogus referendum Organized by pro-Russian separatists in the four occupied territories.
Experts expressed concern that Putin could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and interpreted Putin’s occupation of these areas as a sign that Russia may be determined to escalate the conflict.
CIA Director William Burns recently said it’s hard to tell if Putin was bluffing your desire to use nuclear weapons.
“Today we see no practical evidence in the US intelligence community that is approaching actual use, that there is an imminent threat of strategic use of nuclear weapons,” Burns said. The CBS interview premiered on September 27 and aired in full on Sunday.
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