Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it is obvious Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to invade other countries beyond Ukraine and expand Russia's boarders to the pre-Cold War era.
"When President Biden addressed the nation today, he said that Putin wants a new Soviet Union. Is there intelligence to suggest that President Putin will advance beyond Ukraine?" CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell asked Blinken on Thursday.
"You don't need intelligence to tell you that that's exactly what President Putin wants," the top U.S. diplomat said.
"He's made clear that he'd like to reconstitute the Soviet empire. Short of that, he'd like to reassert a sphere of influence around neighboring countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc. And short of that, he'd like to make sure that all of these countries are somehow neutral."
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Threat of Nuclear Attacks & the Theory of MAD
The idea that Russia (or any nation) would use nuclear weapons to resolve a conflict of this nature was previously considered unlikely due to the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (or MAD).
As the theory goes, if a country such as Russia were ever to use nuclear weapons against an enemy nation, that nation would pay a devastating price indeed, but would have just enough time to fire it's own nuclear missiles back at the aggressor, and both countries would be equally "destroyed."
Russian President Vladimir Putin defied all logic in a live broadcast early Thursday morning when he said, "Whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to the consequences you have never seen in history."
Many analysts have understood the "consequences you have never seen in history." to be a threat of nuclear attack made by the Russian President.
“All relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me.” Vladimir Putin finished his speech.
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Al K. Scott
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