There was a “genuine risk” Russia would have used tactical nuclear weapons in the early months of the Ukraine war, the head of the CIA has revealed.
Bill Burns said the sudden breakthrough of troops in the north east of the country stoked fears Putin would use the most extreme measures, causing a flurry of diplomatic activity.
Speaking alongside the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6, for the first time, Mr Burns said: “There was a moment in the fall of 2022 when I think there was a genuine risk of a potential use of tactical nuclear weapons.
“The president sent me to talk to our Russian counterpart, Sergei Naryshkin, at the end of 2022 to make very clear what the consequences of that kind of escalation would be, and we’ve continued to be very direct about that.
“I don’t think we can afford to be intimidated by that sabre rattling or bullying [but] we’ve got to be mindful of it.”
Mr Burns had raced to Ankara, Turkey, in November 2022 to confront Mr Naryshkin in what was thought to be the first in-person meeting between senior officials of the two countries since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a statement issued at the time, the White House said: “He is conveying a message on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, and the risks of escalation to strategic stability.”
In October 2022, fears were sparked of a potential Russian false-flag attack after defence minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Ukraine was going to use a radioactive “dirty bomb”.
Russian state media claimed Kyiv was gathering nuclear material to use on the battlefield in a dirty bomb or “low-yield nuclear weapon”
The claims were immediately dismissed by the UK while Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said it was clear that Russia was itself planning a dirty bomb attack.
Putin had previously used false accusations to justify his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
On Saturday, Sir Richard Moore, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6, said: “There’s only one party talking about nuclear escalation and that’s Putin.
“It’s deeply irresponsible [but] nobody in the West is going to be intimidated by such thoughts or any other behaviour by the Russian state”.
