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US and Russian officials have been in “sporadic” contact on nuclear issues, the Kremlin said Monday, a day after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned of “catastrophic consequences” if Russia uses nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that his country’s nuclear threats “are not a bluff”.
“I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction,” Putin said Wednesday. “When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the country’s transport industry via a video link in Sochi, Russia on May 24, 2022.
(Sputnik / Mikhail Metzel / Kremlin via REUTERS)
The threats were condemned by senior US officials, with Sullivan claiming on Sunday that the US communicated with Russia in private channels about the response America would take.
Russian troops canned by Ukrainian forces and DNIEPER river, barges carrying supplies to Russian troops sink
“If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The United States will respond decisively,” Sullivan told NBC News on Sunday.
This photo taken from the video provided by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Saturday 19 February 2022, shows a Yars ICBM launched from an airfield during military exercises.
(Press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense via AP)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that there are “channels of dialogue” that are “very sporadic in nature,” according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Putin of using weapons as “nuclear blackmail”.
“Maybe yesterday it was a bluff. Now it could be a reality,” Zelenskyy told CBS on Sunday. “I don’t think he’s bluffing.”
