A recently launched US intelligence report has said that Russia does not want a direct military conflict with the US and (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) NATO, but there is potential for that to occur.
The Annual Threat Assessment report of the US Intelligence Community also said Russian leaders have avoided taking actions that would broaden the Ukraine conflict, however, the risk for escalation remains significant.
“Russia probably does not want a direct military conflict with U.S. and NATO forces, but there is potential for that to occur. Russian leaders thus far have avoided taking actions that would broaden the Ukraine conflict beyond Ukraine’s borders, but the risk for escalation remains significant,” the report said.
It further said that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is a tectonic event that is reshaping Russia’s relationships with the West and China. It also warned that Kremlin will continue to employ tools to advance its own interests and try to undermine the interests of the United States and its allies.
“Escalation of the conflict to a military confrontation between Russia and the West carries the greater risk, which the world has not faced in decades. Moscow will remain a formidable and less predictable challenge to the United States in key areas during the next decade but still will face a range of constraints,” the report said.
The annual report containing worldwide threats to the national security of the United States also talks about threats from China, Iran, North Korea and climate change apart from Russia.
It also said that Moscow perceives Ukraine as an “existential threat in its neighbourhood that could destabilize Putin’s rule and endanger Russian national security.”
Russian military has suffered huge losses during the Ukraine war that will require years of rebuilding and “leave them less capable of posing a conventional military threat to European security,” it said.
The report added that Russia maintains the largest and most capable nuclear weapons stockpile, and it continues to modernize its nuclear weapons capabilities.
The US Intelligence Community also said Russia, with the help of the Wagner Group, will continue to use its involvement in the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, and Syria to increase its influence.
It also claimed that Russia conducted malign influence operations in the 2022 US midterm elections and trying to “penetrate the Western information environment.”
It will try to strengthen ties to US persons in the media and politics in hopes of developing vectors for future influence operations, it added.
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