Russia's nuclear capability an existential threat to US: Gen. Milley
US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley says Russia is the only country with “significant” nuclear capability that poses an existential threat to the United States.
Speaking at the Defense One summit in Washington, DC, on Monday, Gen. Milley said Russia was “adversarial” to US interests. Russia remained the foremost threat to America because of its advanced military and uncertainty about its political intent, he claimed.
"[Russian] nuclear capability is significant, they have reorganized their conventional capability, their special operations capability. So Russia bears close watching and that is why I said they are the number one threat to the United States," he told the audience.
Milley warned that Russia’s recent behavior suggested that its leaders would be willing to resort to their military capabilities in the event of a conflict.
The general said that Washington has adopted a “strength and balance sort of approach” towards Moscow, refusing to call Russia an adversary.
Relations between the US and Russia have slipped to their lowest level since the Cold War over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
The United States is intensifying military planning and training in Europe for a potential confrontation with Russia on NATO’s eastern flank, according to reports.
Gen. Milley hosted a security conference at the US Army headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, last week, which was attended by Army generals from 38 European countries.
Deterring Russian President Vladimir Putin was a central theme of the conference.
“In order to deter an adversary, he has got to realize your capabilities. He’s got to be able to see it and smell it — from the news, from the exercises, from things like this conference,” Milley said at the conference.
Since Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian conflict last year, the US military has worked to transform its force structure in Europe, moving more ships, aircraft and troops into the region.
The US has also been angered by Russia's air campaign in Syria, characterizing it as a strategic blunder. President Barack Obama said earlier this month that the bombings would suck Russia into a "quagmire."
American officials say Moscow has concentrated a large portion of its airstrikes on US-backed militants fighting the Syrian government instead of the Daesh (ISIL) terrorists.
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