U.S. Intelligence Chief Says Russia's Vladimir Putin Could Use Nuclear Weapons as Last Resort in War Against Ukraine

A top U.S. intelligence official said Russia's President Vladimir Putin could use nuclear weapons as a last resort if he perceives that he is losing the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to the Senate armed services committee on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines noted that Putin would continue to brandish its country's nuclear weapons in an effort to deter the U.S. and its allies from further supporting Ukraine.

The Guardian reported that Haines assessed that the change of focus to the east and south was most likely a "temporary tactic" rather than a permanent scaling back of war aims.

Haines said Putin would not use Russia's nuclear weapons until he saw an "existential threat to Russia" or his regime. However, she added that Putin could also see the prospect of defeat in Ukraine as establishing such a threat.

"We do think that could be the case in the event that he [Putin] perceives that he is losing the war in Ukraine, and that NATO is either intervening or about to intervene in that context, which would contribute to a perception that he is about to lose the war in Ukraine," Haines told the committee.

Haines noted that there would probably be some warning that the use of nuclear weapons is imminent such as a further large-scale nuclear exercise involving more dispersal of mobile intercontinental missiles, heavy bombers, and strategic submarines.

Russia Using Nuclear Weapons

In a speech last February, Vladimir Putin said he could use nuclear weapons if the West intervened in their "special military operation."

According to Reuters, Putin said Russia would respond immediately to whoever tried to stand in its way or create threats to Russia and its people.

On February 27, Putin ordered his military command to put Russia's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. He said it was due to aggressive statements by NATO leaders and Western economic sanctions against Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a veteran diplomat, noted that Moscow was doing "its utmost to prevent one." Lavrov said he would not want to elevate those risks artificially. But he noted that the danger was "serious" and "real."

Experts and Western officials have warned against dismissing the comments as a bluff with the risk Putin could use nuclear arms if he felt cornered in Ukraine and if NATO entered the war.

President Joe Biden told Americans on February 28 not to worry about a nuclear war with Russia. When asked if U.S. citizens should be concerned about a nuclear war erupting, Biden answered with a "no."

BBC reported that Russia is believed to have around 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons.

Russia-Ukraine War

The head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said thousands more civilians had been killed in the country since the war started.

According to Al Jazeera, Matilda Bogner noted that it was higher than the official United Nations death toll of 3,381. To date, Bogner said they had corroborated 7,061 civilian casualties, with 3,381 killed and 3,680 injured across Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with refugees from Ukraine in Moldova, saying it was impossible to meet refugees and not be deeply moved by their stories.

Guterres visited a refugee camp and said this tragedy demonstrates that war was senseless and must stop, adding that there was no military solution to each country's problems.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Russia Continues Threats to Use Nuclear Weapons - From CBS Evening News