US NSA Says Russian Threats Taken Seriously, But Biden Warns of Defending ‘Every Inch’ of NATO Territory

The US said that it takes Russian president Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats seriously but does not see any indication that the nuclear weapons will be used, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said.

Sullivan was addressing reporters at the White House and said the US is communicating with Russia directly on the issue which also include responses from the US if Moscow chooses to take the path.

“There is a risk, given all the loose talk and nuclear saber rattling by Putin, that he would consider this and we’ve been equally clear about what the consequences would be,” Sullivan was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. “We do not presently see indications about the imminent use of nuclear weapons,” he further added.

Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons after Ukrainian counteroffensive forced Russian troops to retreat rapidly from broad swaths of the northeastern Kharkiv region in September, handing Moscow a defeat in the ‘military operation’ that has been going on for more than 7 months.

Moscow initiated referendums and now considers these areas which it has annexed following the referendum vote as Russian territories and will see any attack on these territories as an attack on Russia.

Before Vladimir Putin, the former president and the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also indicated that Russia could use nuclear weapons to defend its territories.

Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden said the US and its NATO allies will not be intimidated by Putin’s threats.

“America and its allies are not going to be intimidated. Putin is not going to scare us,” Biden said. “America’s fully prepared, with our NATO allies, to defend every single inch of NATO territory. Mr Putin, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying: every inch,” Biden said.

Biden’s remarks came after Putin presided over a ceremony in Moscow where he declared that Russia annexed four more regions of Ukraine.

He also said he will send divers to the Baltic Sea when ‘things calm down’ to find out who or what caused the leakages in the Nord Stream gas pipelines. “At the appropriate moment, when things calm down, we’re going to be sending divers down to find out exactly what happened,” he was quoted as saying by AFP.

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