The top U.S. defense official is receiving several briefings per week about what officials deem the exceedingly unlikely possibility of Russia using its nuclear arsenal.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is meeting with the military’s general in charge of monitoring U.S. nuclear weapons and defenses two or three times a week, sources told CNN. But officials express skepticism that Russia will follow through with its threats of using nuclear arms, putting the odds Russian President Vladimir Putin will do so at around 1%.
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If the situation were to change quickly, Austin and other top Pentagon officials would be the first to know, even before the White House, officials said.
PENTAGON HAS SEEN ‘NO INDICATIONS’ THAT RUSSIAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS USE ‘IMMINENT’
Concerns about Russia deploying its nuclear arsenal have been on the rise in recent weeks after several weeks of relative calm.
“We took note of what Mr. Putin said in the early days of this invasion,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said. “I think it’s also important to add that there hasn’t been more of that rhetoric following that initial salvo in the early days.”
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a cryptic response to questions about whether Russian forces plan on using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
“At this stage, we are considering the option of conventional weapons only,” Lavrov said.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the world that Russia could be preparing to use its nukes as fighting in Ukraine reached a stalemate.
Nuclear weapons have only been used twice before in world history, during the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
