If Vladimir Putin uses nukes, Russia will face 'catastrophic consequences', US warns

In an interview on Sunday 25 September for This Week on ABC, hosted by George Stephanopoulos, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Russia would face 'catastrophic consequences' if they chose to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

‘Not the first time Putin brandishes the nuclear card’

According toNewsweek, the White House national security adviser said that the U.S. is taking the situation seriously, and this 'isnot the first time'that Putin has threatened 'brandishing that nuclear card.' In fact, 'he started way back in February when Russian tanks first rolled across the border.' According to Sullivan:

The U.S. has communicated privately on a high level to the Russians that Russia would face catastrophic consequences if they use nuclear weapons.

Sullivan continued:

We have been clear with them and emphatic with them that the United States will respond decisively alongside our allies and partners.

Sullivan added that Russians ‘well understand what they would face if they went down that dark road.’

The U.S. careful not to engage in a public tit for tat

ABC host Stephanopolous asked whether that would mean taking the fight to Russia, to which Sullivan answered:

We have communicated to the Russians what the consequences would be, but we have been careful about how we talk about this publicly because from our perspective we want to lay down the principle that there would be catastrophic consequences, but not engage in a game of rhetorical tit for tat.

According to a recent interview by Newsweek, Mikhail Kasyanov, who was Putin's first Prime Minister between 2000-2004, called the most recent nuclear threat by Putin ‘a bluff’, and said that ‘he is saying that to scare people, he already did it a couple of times at the beginning of the year.’

Meanwhile, in Russia, the Army is organising the reservists under the new mobilisation decree that has called to take up arms upwards of 300,000 Russians. This process has also ignited anti-war protests in over 38 Russian cities, to date 2,200 people have been detained thus far.

Sources used:

-ABC 60 Minutes: 'Russia faces 'catastrophic consequences' if it uses nuclear weapons: NSA adviser'
- Newsweek:'Putin Using Nuke Will Bring 'Catastrophic Consequences' From U.S.: Sullivan'
- Newsweek: 'Putin's Nuclear 'Bluff' Designed to 'Scare People': Ex-PM of Russia'

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