A new report has revealed that the United States has sought help from China and India to dissuade Russia from carrying out a potential nuclear strike in 2022 as Moscow’s war against Ukraine raged on.
CNN, quoting senior US officials, reported that Washington engaged with non-allies, including India and China, to discourage Russia from nuke attacks, adding that the leaders of the two countries played a key role in containing the potential crisis.
“One of the things we did was not only message them directly but strongly urge, press, encourage other countries, to whom they might be more attentive, to do the same thing,” a senior US administration official said.
The official went on to say that their assessment is that input from the likes of India, China, and others “may have had some effect” on Russia’s thinking.
Another US official told CNN that the concern from key countries for Russia and the Global South was also a “helpful and persuasive factor” and showed them what the cost of all this could be.
According to the report, concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin might resort to using nuclear weapons spread in 2022 after Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against the southern city of Kherson.
The administration of US President Joe Biden feared that the capture of Kherson might trigger Putin to use nuclear weapons as a deterrent to avoid further losses, the report added.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, over the perceived threat of the ex-Soviet republic joining US-led NATO.
Since then, the United States and Ukraine’s other allies have sent Kiev tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems.
Western countries have also imposed a slew of economic sanctions on Moscow. The Kremlin has said the sanctions and the Western military assistance will only prolong the war.
Last month, Putin said certain Western countries are risking triggering a nuclear war by deploying boots in eastern Ukraine, warning Moscow could strike Western targets.
He made the warning after French President Emmanuel Macron who suggested NATO could send troops to aid Ukraine.
However, the French president’s suggestion was quickly rejected by the United States, Germany, Britain and Kiev allies who have been supplying weapons and munitions to Ukraine.
