1. The Ukraine war is entering a risky period in which the guardrails for averting military escalation between the U.S. and Russia are increasingly imperiled, current and former U.S. officials say. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to redraw his red line by moving to annex portions of Ukraine, suggesting they will become part of Russia proper once the results of referendums are announced later this week. Mr. Putin warned last week that Moscow might use nuclear weapons if the West attacks Russian territory, which in its view will soon be larger. For their part, U.S. officials say the Biden administration isn’t asking the Ukrainians to hold back on their attacks, including with American-provided weapons, in the areas Moscow plans to annex. (Source: wsj.com)
2. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has warned Russia that it would face “catastrophic consequences” if it uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “We have communicated directly privately to the Russians at very high levels that there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia if they use nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” Mr. Sullivan said Sunday on the ABC News show “This Week.” “We have been clear with them and emphatic with them that the United States will respond decisively alongside our allies and partners,” he said. “We have communicated to the Russians what the consequences would be, but we’ve been careful in how we talk about this publicly.” (Source: wsj.com)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to News Items to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.