(ETH) – The US has just taken another shot at Russia after its top US military intelligence official stated during a congressional hearing this week that the Russian military is an “existential threat” to the United States.
According to the report, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, stated “The Russian military is an existential threat to the United States,” during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about worldwide threats. Berrier went further to say the country’s military is being used to maintain influence over states “along its periphery, as well as compete with US global primacy and compel adversaries who challenge Russia’s vital national interests.”
“Moscow continues to invest in its strategic nuclear forces, in new capabilities to enhance its strategic deterrent, and that places the US homeland at risk,” Berrier said. These comments come on the heels of tensions between Russia and the US remaining high.
President Joe Biden recently told a joint session of Congress that Russia’s “actions will have consequences if they turn out to be true, and they turned out to be true,” referring to Moscow’s interference in the election and the SolarWinds cyberattack. “So I responded directly and proportionately to Russia’s interference in our elections and cyberattacks on our government and our businesses — they did both of these things, and I told them we would respond, and we have. But we can also cooperate when it’s in our mutual interests,” Biden said.
