WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th March, 2023) Russia's nuclear threats in the Ukraine conflict and its threats of escalating actions against US allies supporting Kiev could boost risks to North America and the US homeland, Northern Command (NORTHCOM) chief Gen. James VanHerck said in a congressional testimony.
"If Russia should seek to compel allies to reconsider their support for Ukraine through escalatory actions or follow through with the desperate threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the risks to the homeland would increase," VanHerck told the US House Strategic Forces Subcommittee on Wednesday.
VanHerck also said that he believed it would be a mistake to view the conflict in Ukraine as only a regional crisis.
"Russia's actions increase the very real risk of miscalculation and the conflict's expansion beyond its current boundaries - scenarios that could rapidly increase the risks to North� America and continental defense," VanHerck added.
Earlier on Wednesday,� Strategic Command (STRATCOM) chief General Anthony Cotton said that Russia's nuclear rhetoric was underpinned by its nuclear arsenal, which is the largest and most diverse in the world.
