Senior U.S. Officials Talking With Russians Over Nuke Threats

For the past several months, President Joe Biden's top national-security adviser has been speaking with his counterparts in Russia in an ongoing attempt to de-escalate the nuclear threats issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sarah K. Burris reported for Raw Story.

Photo Insert: US national-security adviser Jake Sullivan has reportedly been speaking with his counterpart in the Russian government.

According to The Wall Street Journal, US national-security adviser Jake Sullivan has been speaking with his counterpart in the Russian government, Nikolai Patrushev, said officials.

Sullivan also made an unannounced visit to visit Kyiv days before Putin said Moscow had never threatened to use nuclear weapons or dirty bombs in Ukraine. For weeks, Biden, his senior officials and NATO warned that a nuclear attack would lead to a decimation of Russian military and nuclear forces, the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters also reported.

"The aim has been to guard against the risk of escalation and keep communications channels open, and not to discuss a settlement of the war in Ukraine," they added. On Nov. 7, the Kremlin gagged its mouthpieces to prevent them from warning about nuclear attacks that would destroy the US and the European Union (EU).

Chinese President Xi Jinping also gave Putin a window for retreat by telling visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that Beijing would regard Russia’s use of a nuclear weapon in Ukraine as a “red line.”

Over the past several months, threats from Putin have escalated as his war against Ukraine, and he's been issuing veiled and no-so-veiled threats of nuclear attacks. Last week, the New York Times reported that Putin's higher-ups began thinking more seriously about a possible nuclear attack.

"Senior Russian military leaders recently had conversations to discuss when and how Moscow might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, contributing to heightened concern in Washington and allied capitals," the Times reported, citing multiple senior American officials.

Jack Barsky, a former KGB agent, said that Putin isn't stupid and likely wouldn't act in a way that would ultimately result in his own death. "Vladimir Putin is not a suicide bomber. Vladimir Putin wants to live," Barsky said in an interview with Business Insider.

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