US intelligence additionally stated that Russia has used meals as a weapon by blocking or seizing Ukrainian ports.
Washington:
The US intelligence neighborhood believes that Russia “in all probability doesn’t desire a direct army battle with US and NATO forces, however there may be potential for that to happen,” in line with the Annual Menace Evaluation report of the intelligence neighborhood issued on Wednesday.
Russia’s unprovoked conflict of aggression in opposition to Ukraine is a tectonic occasion that’s reshaping Russia’s relationships with the West and China, and extra broadly in methods which can be unfolding and stay extremely unsure.
Escalation of the battle to a army confrontation between Russia and the West carries the higher threat, which the world has not confronted in a long time.
“Russian leaders so far have averted taking actions that might broaden the Ukraine battle past Ukraine’s borders, however the threat for escalation stays vital,” stated the report.
There may be actual potential for Russia’s army failures within the conflict to harm Russian President Vladimir Putin’s home standing and thereby set off further escalatory actions by Russia in an effort to win again public help. Heightened claims that the US is utilizing Ukraine as a proxy to weaken Russia, and that Ukraine’s army successes are solely a results of US and NATO intervention might presage additional Russian escalation.
Moscow will proceed to make use of an array of instruments to advance what it sees as its personal pursuits and attempt to undermine the pursuits of the US and its allies. These are more likely to be army, safety, malign affect, cyber, and intelligence instruments, with Russia’s financial and power leverage in all probability a declining asset. We anticipate Moscow to insert itself into crises when it sees its pursuits at stake, the anticipated prices of motion are low, it sees a chance to capitalize on an influence vacuum, or, as within the case of its use of pressure in Ukraine, it perceives an existential menace in its neighborhood that might destabilize Putin’s rule and endanger Russian nationwide safety, added the US report.
It additional said that Russia will proceed to make use of power as a overseas coverage software to attempt to coerce cooperation and weaken Western unity on Ukraine.
Russia’s state-owned exporter Gazprom minimize off gasoline to quite a few European international locations after they supported sanctions on Russia, contributing to hovering pure gasoline costs.
The US Intelligence Group report additionally stated that Russia has used meals as a weapon by blocking or seizing Ukrainian ports, destroying grain infrastructure, occupying giant swaths of agricultural land thereby disrupting the yields and displacing staff, and stealing grain for eventual export. These actions exacerbated international meals shortages and value will increase.
The report additionally alleged that Russia carried out malign affect operations within the 2022 US midterm elections and is utilizing more and more clandestine means to “penetrate the Western data atmosphere.”
Moscow can even work to “strengthen ties” to Individuals in media and politics as it really works to hold out “future affect operations,” the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence stated within the newest version of its annual evaluation of worldwide threats to U.S. nationwide safety.
The 2023 report got here 4 months after the newest midterm elections, the place considerations about Russian affect efforts have been extra muted compared with the 2 earlier presidential election cycles in 2016 and 2020.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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