CIA Director William Burns (pictured) said this Monday in an interview with CBS that it is "hard to say" whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is "hesitating" to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

However, Burns emphasized that any threat of this nature should be taken seriously.

At this point, US intelligence agencies see no evidence that Putin is headed in that direction.

Former CIA director with a surprising answer on what the US will do if Russia uses nuclear weapons

The CIA director, however, admitted he was troubled by frequent "nuclear" rhetoric from Putin and other senior Russian officials, which he described as "unwise and deeply irresponsible."

According to Burns, the role of responsible politicians is to prevent the outbreak of a nuclear conflict.

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