Putin 'Very Unlikely' to Use Nuclear Weapons: Retired U.S. General

A retired U.S. Army lieutenant general said in an interview with a Ukrainian news outlet that he believes it is "very unlikely" Russia will turn to nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine.

Ben Hodges, who served as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Europe between 2014 and 2017, told the Kyiv Post on Wednesday that while he takes the threat of nuclear warfare "very seriously," he is not convinced the Kremlin would use such drastic measures even if Russian President Vladimir Putin starts to lose more territory.

"Russia does have thousands of nuclear weapons and I take the threats very seriously, but I think it's very unlikely that they would use the nuclear weapon because of all the negative consequences they would have to face," Hodges said, according to the Post. "And I think the Kremlin and the Russian general staff know this."

Hodges also listed what he believes to be several "strategic miscalculations" by the Kremlin, starting with Russia's assumption that its army had a "huge advantage" over Ukraine's military.

"The second miscalculation that they made, of course, was that the West would not care, because we had shown that we were not willing to do much after Georgia, after Crimea, after Syria, and so they probably thought that we would continue to not react very strongly," Hodges continued.

The retired general said that Russia had also assumed that whatever "pain or punishment" would result from invading Ukraine would be worth it for what the country could gain in return.

"They wanted to destroy Ukraine as a state, they wanted to destroy the idea of Ukraine as a state," Hodges said. "But they had a real objective of course, to get Crimea and to ensure the sustainability of Crimea, but in fact to also get rid of Ukraine or get rid of the government of President [Volodymyr] Zelensky and get some idea that they would be more amenable... That would have been the outcome."

Hodges also addressed Putin's recent full mobilization for Russian troops, calling the move "a catastrophe" for the Kremlin, adding that Russia does not have the ability to raise more troops.

"Obviously, for the people [mobilization] made clear that Putin is losing control inside Russia," Hodges said. "Half a million Russian men of military age left Russia to avoid mobilization. That tells you the Russian people have no stomach for this fight, they don't want to be there..."

Hodges has been vocal about the war in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February, including telling a Lithuanian media outlet in September that he believes Ukraine can push Russian troops out of Crimea and other occupied territories by mid-2023.

The retired general said in the interview published Wednesday that he uses "every opportunity I have to try and explain that yes, Ukraine is going to win, yes, Russia is going to be defeated, and we should get used to the idea that Russia is not entitled to any of Ukraine's territory."

Western leaders have continuously condemned Putin's threat of nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine, including President Joe Biden, who told reporters on Tuesday that the use of tactical nuclear weapons would be a "serious mistake" by Russia.

Tensions between the Kremlin and the West further escalated on Wednesday after Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov noted that any "participation of the U.S. military" in the fight against Russia would "lead to disastrous consequences." Antonov's comments follow a report from CBS last week that U.S. troops deployed near the Ukraine-Romanian border said they were ready to "cross over in response to any escalation or attack on NATO."

Newsweek reached out to Hodges for further comment.