Putin’s nuclear blackmail is emptied by his fear of COVID — former CIA official

He discussed this in an interview with The Times.

According to Goff, the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, could have been stopped much earlier. To do this, he said, it was necessary to provide Ukraine with sufficient weapons from the very beginning.

“If we had provided Ukrainians with proper weapons at the time, they might have been able to drive the Russians out of the country. This did not happen. This created the preconditions for a longer, protracted, meat grinder of a war that we are witnessing today,” he said.

In addition, in his opinion, the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden and the allies allowed Putin to dictate the terms of the war, delaying the transfer of necessary equipment to Ukraine for fear of a nuclear conflict.

“(They) allowed Putin to fool them with his rattling of the nuclear saber. So they gave the Ukrainians these weapons, but they never gave them enough to win. They only gave them enough to bleed,” Goff emphasized.

The former CIA official, who speaks five languages, including Russian, also shared an interesting observation about Putin. He noted that the Russian leader was "deathly afraid" of the coronavirus during the pandemic.

"In my view, people who are so concerned about their health are not likely to play high-stakes nuclear poker," he remarked.

Speaking about the future and the possible strategy of a new U.S. administration, Goff suggested that Trump might try to soften his rhetoric and possibly make some concessions to Putin in an attempt to "pull" Russia away from China. Putin himself, being a former intelligence officer, likely believes he can manipulate Trump. However, Goff predicts that Putin is "deeply mistaken."

"Eventually, Putin will outplay himself with the administration and reveal where the real problem lies — and it’s in Moscow, not in Kyiv," he explained.

For reference: Ralph Goff is a vocal supporter of Ukraine. Since retiring in October 2023, he has visited Ukraine several times, meeting with government and intelligence officials.

• Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said Russia may use nuclear weapons if attacked by the West and accused Europe of preparing for war by 2030.