The US and its NATO allies would destroy Russian forces and sink the Black Sea Fleet if Vladimir Putin decides to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, former CIA director David Petraeus has predicted.
The retired four-star general explained in an interview on ABC’s This Week on Sunday what he thinks would happen if the Kremlin warmonger used nuclear weapons.
“We would respond by leading a NATO – a collective – effort that would eliminate every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea.” he said.
Petraeus said Russia’s use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine would not trigger NATO’s Article 5, which requires collective defense of member states, because Ukraine is not part of the alliance.
But he said that if Putin were to use nuclear weapons, the high probability that radiation from the strike would hit a member of the alliance could potentially be construed as an attack on NATO and fall under Article 5.
Abandoned Russian armored personnel carrier marked Z in Kyrylivka, in the recently recaptured territory near Kharkiv. AFP via Getty Images
Petraeus said during an interview on ABC’s This Week on Sunday that Russia’s Vladimir Putin was “losing” the war. ABC News
“Perhaps you can bring this case up,” he said. “The other case is that this is so awful that there has to be an answer — it can’t go unanswered.”
Putin has repeatedly issued veiled threats to use nuclear weapons, prompting National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to warn Russia of “catastrophic consequences” last week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said the Biden administration had made it “very clear” to Moscow that a nuclear strike would have “horrific consequences.”
Putin, center, officially annexed four regions of Ukraine during a ceremony in the Kremlin on Friday. SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images
A view shows a destroyed Russian infantry fighting vehicle in the liberated village of Kamianka in the Kharkiv region. Portal
President Biden, in a speech after the Kremlin’s annexation ceremony, warned Putin that the US and its allies were “fully prepared” to “defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Petreaus said the Kremlin warmonger was losing the war and now, despite “desperate” steps, was facing an “irreversible” disaster on the battlefield.
“No amount of annexation, no amount of veiled nuclear threats can get him out of this situation,” Petraeus said.
Petraeus has also been harsh on Putin’s “shambolic” mobilization efforts, which have sparked protests in Russia and tens of thousands of military-age men fleeing across the border to avoid conscription.
“President Zelenskyy and Ukraine have mobilized far better than Russia,” said Petraeus. “Ukraine has recruited, trained, equipped, organized and deployed forces incomparably better than Russia.”
Ukrainian forces liberated the strategically important town of Lyman in the newly annexed Donetsk region over the weekend and made further conquests in the Kherson region, which Russia now also claims.
Petraeus described Russia’s mobilization efforts as “shambolic”. AP
“He will keep losing on the battlefield,” Petraeus said of Putin.
When asked if Russia could still win the war with Ukraine, Petraeus said: “They can’t. At this point (Putin) can do nothing.”
Petraues predicted that the war would ultimately end at the negotiating table, as Zelenskyy himself said, but the former head of the CIA warned that “it can always get worse for Putin and for Russia. The use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield will not change that.”
Still, he added: “You have to take the threat seriously.”