WASHINGTON (CNN/Reuters) – The United States sees no evidence suggesting that Russia has decided to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says.
“I don’t see anything right now that would lead me to believe that he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has made such a decision,” Austin told CNN interviewer Fareed Zakaria.
The Pentagon chief said that Washington had previously communicated these concerns to Moscow via top-level channels. When asked if he had any recent contacts with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Austin responded negatively.
Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not want to develop the theme of nuclear escalation and is urging everyone to behave responsibly.
“We do not want to develop this theme, we are still urging everyone to behave responsibly,” Peskov said, adding that only those acting irresponsibly had been talking about nuclear escalation.
Previously, U.S. officials and media accused President Putin of making “nuclear threats” against Ukraine in his speech to the nation on September 21, where he announced partial mobilization and status referendums in the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye.
What Putin actually said was that Kiev and its Western sponsors had “resorted to nuclear blackmail”, and that Moscow would not hesitate to respond if its security interests were threatened.
Regarding the latest developments on the ground, Ukraine said on Sunday it was in full control of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, Kiev’s most significant battlefield gain in weeks, which a senior official said could provide a staging post for further gains to the east.
“As of 1230 (0930 GMT), Lyman is fully cleared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a short video clip on his Telegram channel.
There was no comment from the Russian armed forces on Sunday on the status of the city. The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday it was pulling troops out of the area “in connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement”.
The latest stinging setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin came after he proclaimed the annexation of four regions covering nearly a fifth of Ukraine on Friday, an area that includes Lyman.
Russian forces captured Lyman from Ukraine in May and had used it as a logistics and transport hub for its operations in the north of the Donetsk region.