Bill Burns calls Vladimir Putin a ‘bully’ whose ‘sabre-rattling’ should not always be taken literally

Western leaders should not be intimidated by Kremlin threats of nuclear escalation, the head of the CIA said on Saturday, and be willing to consider allowing Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles to be used inside Russia.

Bill Burns, on a visit to London alongside the head of MI6, said the US had brushed off a previous Russian nuclear scare in autumn 2022, demonstrating that threats from Moscow should not always be taken literally.

“Putin’s a bully. He’s going to continue to sabre rattle from time to time,” Burns said. “We cannot afford to be intimidated by that sabre rattling … we got to be mindful of it. The US has provided enormous support for Ukraine, and I’m sure the president will consider other ways in which we can support them.”

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  • InvertedParallax@lemm.eeEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    Then Putin should be very scared of that risk and withdraw immediately!

    Or the Russian people should be scared of that and force him to withdraw.

    Who am I kidding, the Russian people can’t stand up to President Putin, they’re too busy listening to General Stolichnaya.

    • would_be_appreciated@lemmy.mlEnglish
      11·
      2 months ago

      Then Putin should be very scared of that risk and withdraw immediately!

      He should, but he doesn’t appear to be. That puts the ball in everybody else’s court, unfair though it is.

      Or the Russian people should be scared of that and force him to withdraw.

      Who am I kidding, the Russian people can’t stand up to President Putin, they’re too busy listening to General Stolichnaya.

      A large number of Russians are trying to protest. They typically get killed or imprisoned. It’s hard to fault the remainder for not risking their lives for a probably fruitless attempt at dissent.

      • vaultdweller013English
        3·
        2 months ago

        The ones trying to protest should escalate, cause clearly both the ballot boz and soapbox have become ineffective. Hell depending on how they do it it could be less lethal to them.

      • InvertedParallax@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        He should, but he doesn’t appear to be. That puts the ball in everybody else’s court, unfair though it is.

        It is in our court, so we should vastly escalate, both support for Ukraine, and we should start enforcing a no-fly zone.

        During WW2, I don’t think the Russians looked at the invading, brutalizing Germans and said ‘well, poor things are being forced by Hitler, we shouldn’t fight back’. And Germans stood against Hitler openly, they died for that.

        Every day that goes by the cost for the Russian people increases. This is their country, they can take it back or watch it burn.

        But the moronic belief that the west is weak and can’t or won’t stop them, it’s the same belief Hitler had, and will lead to the same place, the utter destruction of their country, and the partition between the west and east.