- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told PBS "no one is thinking about using" nukes in
Ukraine . - Peskov previously refused to rule out the use of
nuclear weapons .
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov in an interview with PBS on Monday threw cold water on the notion that
"No one is thinking about using...a nuclear weapon," Peskov said.
Peskov said Russia has a "security concept that very clearly states that only when there is a threat for existence of the state in our country, we can use and we will actually use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat or the existence of our country."
"Let's keep these two things separate...existence of the state and special military operation in Ukraine. They have nothing to do with each other," Peskov went on to say, adding, "At the same time, if you remember the statement of the president when he ordered the operation on the 24th of February, there was a part of his statement warning different states not to interfere in the affairs between Ukraine and Russia during this operation."
—PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 28, 2022
The war in Ukraine has not gone well for Russia after nearly five weeks, with Ukrainian forces putting up a much tougher fight than Moscow had planned for. NATO last week estimated that the Russian military had already seen 40,000 battlefield casualties in roughly a month of war. Russian generals have also been killed at an astonishing rate.
In this context, there have been growing fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use a weapon of mass destruction as he increasingly feels frustrated. Shortly after launching the so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine, Putin ordered his country's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. The use of nuclear weapons by Putin in Ukraine would likely pull NATO and the US into the war, which would mean a direct conflict between multiple nuclear powers.
Russian military doctrine calls for a so-called "escalate to de-escalate" strategy where Russia uses a nuke to end a conventional war that's gone against them.
As peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators showed glimmers of progress on Tuesday, Russia also announced it was reducing military activities near Kyiv. But the US has expressed skepticism about the significance of this, warning that Russia could simply be regrouping and shifting troops to other areas.
"We believe that this is a repositioning, not a real withdrawal, and that we all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine. It does not mean the threat to Kyiv is over," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday.