There was a moment in the fall of 2022 that I think there was a genuine risk of potential use of tactical nuclear weapons
We cannot afford to be intimidated by that sabre-rattling and bullying
The last 10 per cent is the last 10 per cent for a reason... it's the hardest part to do
There's only one party talking about nuclear escalation and that's Putin
I cannot sit here today with all of you and say that we’re going to succeed in that,
None of us should take lightly the risks of escalation,
The fact that they are using their criminal elements shows you that they’re becoming a bit desperate. They can’t use their own people,
We have navigated, touch wood again, past another crisis point between Israel and Iran. But as long as . . . we don’t get to a cease-fire, that risk is there. And for all the horror of Gaza, a wider conflagration in the Middle East would be vastly worse,
There’s this genuine concern, certainly amongst the people that we deal with in the Israeli intelligence and security services about the potential for a much wider regional conflict,
As Bill said, nobody in the West is going to be intimidated by such talk or any other behavior by the Russian state, because we all recognize we’ve got to stay in this and we have to try and help the Ukrainians to restore their independence and sovereignty,
Criminals do stuff for cash. You know, they’re not reliable. They’re not particularly professional, and therefore, usually, we’re able to roll them up pretty effectively,
I have never thought, however, and this is the view of my agency, that we should be unnecessarily intimidated by that. Putin's a bully. He's going to continue to saber-rattle,
It has exposed some of the vulnerabilities of Putin's Russia and of his military."
There is a clear direction to make adjustment,
We've continued to be very direct about that,
It's typically audacious and bold on the part of the Ukrainians to try and change the game,
I think they have, to a degree, changed the narrative around [the war with Russia],
I cannot tell you how close we are right now,
We saw it coming, and were able to warn the international community so we could all rally to Ukraine’s defense,
Russian intelligence service has gone a bit feral,