Pentagon chief does not believe in Russia's use of nuclear weapons

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin condemns "nuclear rattling", but says he does not believe that the Russian president has decided to use nuclear weapons. He said this in an interview with CNN, UNN reports.

The head of the Pentagon said that he privately told his Russian counterpart, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, "not to go down this path and not to engage in such irresponsible behavior." Austin said he had not spoken to Shoigu "in recent days" but said other members of the US government's leadership had "recently" conveyed similar messages to Russia..

"You've heard people from our leadership say that we've spoken to them recently. I personally have not spoken with Shoigu in recent days, but I have spoken with him before. And I addressed this problem and warned him not to go down this path and not to commit such irresponsible behavior," Austin said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin condemned the "rattling of nuclear weapons" by Russia. However, he said that he sees no signs that Putin has decided to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine.

"The United States sees no indication that the Russian leadership has made a decision to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine," Austin said.

"There is no check on Mr. Putin. Just as he made the irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine, he could have made a different decision. But now I see nothing that would make me believe that he has made such a decision," the US Secretary of Defense added.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 02/10/2022