Moscow, SAEDNEWS: Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that he cannot afford to lose in Ukraine and is “doubling down” on the war, but does not show signs of planning to use tactical nuclear weapons, CIA director Bill Burns said.
Despite the failure of Russian forces to capture Kyiv and their struggle to advance along the war’s main front lines in the southeastern Donbas region, Putin has not changed his view that his troops can defeat Ukraine’s forces, the CIA director said on Saturday.
Putin’s belief in Russia’s ability to wear down Ukrainian resistance probably has not been shaken despite key battlefield defeats, Burns told a conference.
“I think he’s in a frame of mind in which he doesn’t believe he can afford to lose,” Burns said.
The US intelligence agency chief said that Putin has been “stewing” for years about Ukraine – which was once part of the Soviet Union – describing the Russian leader’s thinking on the issue as a “very combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity”.
The Russian leader has not been deterred by the stiff resistance demonstrated by Ukraine’s armed forces in the war, “because he staked so much on the choices that he made to launch this invasion,” Burns said.
“I think he’s convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress.”
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