Biden administration officials have warned Kremlin leaders that there will be “catastrophic consequences” if they use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine but have not detailed publicly what that response could include.
The warnings from U.S. officials have been taken up a notch following another threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin that such military actions were on the table.
They have communicated “directly” and “privately” to the Russians about the possibility and warned them that “the United States will respond decisively, alongside our allies and partners,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
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“We have communicated to the Russians what the consequences would be, but we’ve been careful in how we talk about this publicly because, from our perspective, we want to lay down the principle that there would be catastrophic consequences, but not engage in a game of rhetorical tit for tat,” he added, noting that the administration is being cautious about what details it shares publicly. “We are planning for every contingency. And we will do what is necessary to deter Russia from taking this step. And if they do, we will respond decisively.”
Last week, Putin announced a partial mobilization effort of 300,000 reservists to infuse the military ranks that have been diminished significantly through seven months of the war. He also issued his latest threat to use a nuclear weapon during the speech.
“I would like to remind those who make such statements regarding Russia that our country has different types of weapons as well, and some of them are more modern than the weapons NATO countries have,” the Russian leader warned. “In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.”
In direct response to the threat, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said that there would be “severe consequences” should it use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, though he, too, declined to provide specific details.
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“We always have to take this kind of rhetoric seriously. It’s irresponsible rhetoric for a nuclear power to talk that way, but it’s not atypical for how he’s been talking the last seven months, and we take it seriously. We are monitoring as best we can their strategic posture so that if we have to, we can alter ours. We’ve seen no indication that it’s required right now,” he said. “I think you’ve heard the president talk about this … there will be severe consequences. Not only will he be that much more a pariah on the world stage, but there will have to be severe consequences that the international community will” put forward.
Kirby, like Sullivan, did not provide specifics about what the “consequences” would include and whether they would be in the form of economic penalties, militaristic, or diplomatic.
