Leaders of US spy agencies said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to be deterred and may intensify the assault on Ukraine despite military setbacks and economic hardships resulting from international sanctions.
"Our analysts assess that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks and instead may escalate," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the annual House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, where she testified with other intelligence agency leaders.Haines said intelligence analysts had not observed changes in Russia's nuclear posture beyond what was detected during previous international crises.
William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, echoed Haines' assessment that Russia is unlikely to back down.