The US’s highest-ranked military officer has criticised Russia’s “nuclear sabre rattling” as it continues to suffer setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine.
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told CNN on Tuesday it was “completely irresponsible” for any senior Government official of a nuclear power to threaten to use atomic weapons.
His comments came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the danger of nuclear war as “serious, real, and we must not underestimate it,” in an interview on state television.
Tensions over the potential use of nuclear weapons have risen since the Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February.
Russia is planning to test Sarmat 2 nuclear warheads capable of hitting the US and Europe by September, the head of the Roscosmos space agency said Saturday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly raised the prospect of using nuclear weapons as his plans for a quick military defeat of Ukraine failed.
“This really unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia’s security from external threats and make those, who in the heat of frantic aggressive rhetoric try to threaten our country, think twice,” Mr Putin said last week.
The US military is closely monitoring the nuclear threat from Russia, Mr Milley said.
“Any time a senior leader of a nation state starts rattling a nuclear sabre, then everyone takes it seriously,” Mr Milley told CNN.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was meeting the Russian autocrat in Moscow on Tuesday, said last month: “The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility.”
