Ret. Gen. Keith Alexander, the former National Security Agency director and head of U.S. Cyber Command, said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would likely favor implementing strategic cyber attacks in the war with Ukraine — instead of resorting to launching nuclear weapons at the neighboring country.
"I think [Putin] will use [cyber] clearly before nuclear," said Alexander, while speaking at an event hosted by the Cyber Initiatives Group.
"If he uses nuclear, he's dead," said Alexander, adding "if [Putin] uses the nuclear option, I believe that will cause NATO to rethink [whether] they're in or out."
"I think [Putin] recognizes that, and I think the administration made that clear," Alexander said.
Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war in late February, there has been much speculation about Putin using nuclear weapons as a finishing move.
But even with Russia getting weapons assistance from other countries — including highly advanced military drones, courtesy of Iran — there does not appear to be much substance to any Putin-nukes rumors.
"We see no need for [nuclear weapons]," Putin stated in October. "There is no point in that, neither political nor military."
Of course, that comment prompted President Joe Biden to wonder aloud in a recent interview: "If [Putin] has no intention [of using nuclear weapons], why does he keep talking about it?
"He's been very dangerous in how he's approached this," continued Biden. "He can end this all, get out of Ukraine."
The threat of Russia using nuclear weapons serves as a prominent talking point — covering both sides of the political aisle.
As Newsmax chronicled in October, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., acknowledged his "bigger fear" of Putin potentially using nuclear weapons on a NATO ally.
(Note: Ukraine is not part of the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization.)
"If [Putin] decides that the NATO arming and the European arming is causing him not to just lose his war and undermine his grip on power, but perhaps threatening his own forces inside of Russia, I think it's quite possible that he could end up striking some of these distribution places where these supplies are coming through, including inside Poland," Rubio told CNN at the time.
Around that same period, President Biden offered a thinly veiled warning to Putin and Russia — even after Moscow denied interest in launching nuclear weapons.
"Let me just say Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake if it were to use a tactical nuclear weapon," Biden said in October.
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