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Petraeus: U.S. could "destroy" Russian military from Ukraine if it launched nuclear strike

The former CIA director believes that a Russian nuclear attack would provoke a joint U.S. - NATO led military action. The Atlantic Alliance also warned of a "firm and united" response.

David Petraeus

David Petraeus / Cordon Press

Published by
Juan Carlos Téllez

Retired General and former CIA directorDavid Petraeus, assured that the US could destroy all Russian troops and military equipment in Ukraine in an eventual response to a Russian nuclear attack.

In an interview with ABC News, Petraeus noted that the US and its allies would sink "every ship" in Russia's Black Sea fleet if Russian President Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine. In this regard, the former CIA director explained that, although Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance would not be activated (because Ukraine is not one of its members), there would be a "response from the U.S. and NATO."

Just to give you a hypothetical, we would respond by leading a NATO effort that would eliminate every Russian conventional force we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea.

"Severe consequences"

The warning followed the annexation of several Ukrainian territories to Russia and amid an escalation in Putin's threats regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. In this regard, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Putin on Sunday that there will be a "firm and united" response in the event of an attack on critical NATO infrastructure and assured that any nuclear action will have "severe consequences."

For his part, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby denounced on Monday´s episode of ABC´s Good Morning America, the "irresponsible rhetoric" of a nuclear power like Russia and assured that these threats must be taken seriously:

We have to take these threats seriously. We must. It would be easier if we could ignore them, but we can't (...) They are serious threats made by a serious nuclear power (...) There is no reason for (Putin) to use those kinds of threats.

On Sunday, NATO warned of the mobilization of a Russian submarine carrying nuclear torpedoes. It is the K-329 model, which according to a report from the Atlantic Alliance is in Arctic Ocean waters and is preparing to test its Poseidon torpedoes, one of the most advanced projectiles of its class that can travel more than 6,200 miles with its radioactive payload.

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