"Just to give you a guess, we would respond by leading a NATO effort - a collective effort - that would eliminate every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea." said former general David Petraeus, former head of the CIA, in an interview with ABC, answering a question about what would happen if Putin used the nuclear weapon.
According to Petraeus, "there must be an answer", but not necessarily "nuclear versus nuclear", to avoid a "nuclear escalation".
"The Russians made Napoleon suffer, the Nazis and so on, but I don't think Vladimir Putin will be able to make Europe suffer. Europe will have a hard winter, it will have reduced gas flows,
NATO warns PUTIN, 'HARD REACTION IF USING NUCLEAR'
"Any use of nuclear weapons will have serious consequences for Russia."
The response to Vladimir Putin's threats on the use of tactical nuclear warheads to protect the new self-proclaimed borders with the annexations of the Ukrainian regions comes from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who in an interview with NBC denounced the rhetoric of the Kremlin leader as "dangerous" and "reckless".
The alliance, he warned, is ready to respond firmly and united to any deliberate attack on his critical infrastructure.
But on the accession of Kiev, which President Volodymyr Zelensky has again clamored after the tsar's last tear, Stoltenberg reiterated that any decision must be agreed upon by all members.
In any case, he has assured,
the allies will continue to support Ukraine, which continues to make progress on the ground, as evidenced by the reconquest of Lyman.
The city "is totally liberated", Zelensky confirmed, thanking the army and celebrating the return of "Ukrainian flags to the Donbass".
The Kiev leader addressed the Russians directly, urging them to abandon Putin.
"Until you all solve the problem with the one who started it all, who started this senseless war for Russia against Ukraine - he said - you will be killed one by one, scapegoating, not to admit that this war is a historical mistake for Russia ".
Zelensky confirmed, thanking the army and celebrating the return of "Ukrainian flags to the Donbass".
The Kiev leader addressed the Russians directly, urging them to abandon Putin.
"Until you all solve the problem with the one who started it all, who started this senseless war for Russia against Ukraine - he said - you will be killed one by one, scapegoating, not to admit that this war is a historical mistake for Russia ".
Zelensky confirmed, thanking the army and celebrating the return of "Ukrainian flags to the Donbass".
The Kiev leader addressed the Russians directly, urging them to abandon Putin.
"Until you all solve the problem with the one who started it all, who started this senseless war for Russia against Ukraine - he said - you will be killed one by one, scapegoating, not to admit that this war is a historical mistake for Russia ".
After inducing the Russian troops to a new, sensational retreat, the resumption of Lyman, a strategic railway hub in Donetsk, gave breath back to the Kiev counter-offensive, right after the Kremlin annexed the region.
A decision that has also received formal green light from the Constitutional Court of Moscow, while the Duma is preparing to ratify the treaties signed on Friday by the tsar with the separatist leaders of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Within the Russian Federation, new Putin decrees establish, the regions will enter with the borders of the day of annexation and will keep the same name, although at the moment only those of the Donbass will have the status of Republic with Russian as the official language,
while interim leaders will be indicated awaiting local elections scheduled in a year's time.
For the former colonel of the FSB intelligence service and opponent Gennadiy Gudkov, however, the tsar is flexing his muscles because he is in trouble.
"Do not be fooled, Putin no longer has so many ambitions and obsessions. He is saving his skin, because he is well aware that the war, if not yet lost, will be lost. And the first black swans of his defeat - he said - are already flown. Putin has a very clear, bloodthirsty pragmatic and cynical plan. He is creating the conditions for a future nuclear blackmail ".
Putin no longer has so many ambitions and obsessions.
He is saving his skin, because he is well aware that the war, if not yet lost, will be lost.
And the first black swans of his defeat - he said - have already flown.
Putin has a very clear, pragmatic and cynical bloodthirsty plan.
He is creating the conditions for a future nuclear blackmail ".
Putin no longer has so many ambitions and obsessions.
He is saving his skin, because he is well aware that the war, if not yet lost, will be lost.
And the first black swans of his defeat - he said - have already flown.
Putin has a very clear, pragmatic and cynical bloodthirsty plan.
He is creating the conditions for a future nuclear blackmail ".
Alongside that of NATO, new support from Europe also arrives in Kiev.
In a phone call with Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his commitment "to help Ukraine regain full sovereignty and territorial integrity", promising to commit to "new sanctions", while Germany, Denmark and Norway have announced the '' dispatch from 2023 of the Slovak Zuzana-2 artillery system with 155 mm shells, according to the standard of the Atlantic Alliance.
Meanwhile, the alarm remains high over safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi spoke of a "serious concern", announcing visits "to Kiev and Moscow next week"