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A U.S. State Department official and two Norwegian defense-focused politicians are concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin might deploy a nuclear weapon in response to Ukraine’s planned spring counteroffensive, set to begin in weeks.
The Ukrainian military plans to go on the offensive as soon as Western tanks and long-range rockets arrive, which could be as soon as April, according to Kyiv’s minister of internal affairs Anton Gerashchenko. Its primary regional target will be Russian-occupied Crimea, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to take back on Feb. 26.
Speaking at the Norwegian Embassy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Douglas Jones and Norwegian Parliament member Åsmund Aukrust told The Epoch Times there is a real possibility of nuclear escalation in Ukraine and that both NATO members are concerned.
The officials spoke at the Atlantic Council’s “Looking North: Conference on security in the Arctic” event on Thursday, along with Norway’s Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense Ine Eriksen Søreide, who echoed the uneasiness of her peers.The Sum of All Fears
Jones said he was worried. “The comments [Russia] has made about nuclear escalation have been really irresponsible,” he said.
Jones threatened “serious consequences” for Russia if it were to cross the atomic line, though he would not specify what these repercussions would look like. He said non-NATO countries like China and India have made statements in alignment with the United States on this issue.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed on Feb. 23 that the United States worked behind the scenes to encourage foreign powers to preemptively urge Putin against the use of nuclear weapons.
