WASHINGTON: The US Army General Mark Milley has warned about Russia’s nuclear capability, saying it is the only country on earth that could destroy the United States.
“Russia is the only country on earth that contains a nuclear capability that could destroy the United States,” General Milley told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday in Washington at a hearing to consider his nomination to serve as the next Army Chief of Staff.
“It’s an existential threat to the United States, so it has capability. Intent, I don’t know; but the activity of Russia since 2008 has been very, very aggressive,” he added.
Mark Milley has been named to replace the outgoing Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno whose four-year term ends in several weeks. Earlier, Milley served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the hearing, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he favored providing lethal defensive equipment to help Ukrainian troops counter the artillery of Russian-backed rebels.
The relations between the United States and Russia deteriorated after the US-backed forces ousted Ukraine’s elected president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
The US and its allies accuse Russia of sending troops into eastern Ukraine in support of the pro-Russian forces. However, Russia denies involvement in Ukraine’s crisis.
“Lethal equipment, I think, is something we should consider, and I would be in favor of lethal defensive equipment,” General Milley said when asked whether the United States should provide weapons to enable Ukraine to counter artillery and rocket fire from Russian-backed rebels.
