CIA director saw ‘genuine risk’ of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons early in Ukraine war
CIA Director William Burns believed there was a real risk in the fall of 2022 that Russia could use nuclear weapons on the battlefield against Ukraine, though he said the West should not be intimidated by Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats. "None of us should take lightly the risks of escalation," Burns said Saturday in a moderated conversation with the U.K.'s secret intelligence chief Richard Moore at the Financial Times Weekend Festival. "There was a moment in the fall of 2022 when I think there was a genuine risk of the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," Burns said. "I have never thought, however, and t