Moscow would only use nuke weapons faced with ‘existential threat’: Kremlin

WASHINGTON, Mar 23 (Agencies): Russia would only use nuclear weapons in the context of the Ukraine conflict if it were facing an "existential threat," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN International on Tuesday.
"We have a concept of domestic security, and it's public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used," Peskov said. "So if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept."
Peskov's comment came as interviewer Christiane Amanpour pushed him on whether he was "convinced or confident" that President Vladimir Putin would not use the nuclear option in the Ukrainian context.
Days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Putin announced on February 28 that he had put the country's strategic nuclear forces on high alert in a move that sparked global alarm.
Asked about Peskov's statement, and Russia's nuclear stance more broadly, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby called Moscow's rhetoric on potential use of nuclear weapons "dangerous."
"It's not the way a responsible nuclear power should act," he told reporters.
That said, Kirby stressed that Pentagon officials "haven't seen anything that would lead us to conclude that we need to change our strategic deterrent posture."
"We monitor this as best we can every day," he added.
Russia maintains the world's largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, and has earned minimal support around the world for its attack on its ex-Soviet neighbor.
Western defence officials said following Putin's February announcement that they had not seen any significant sign of mobilization of Russia's nuclear forces - its strategic bombers, missiles and submarines.
But Moscow has also warned that if the United States and NATO allies supplied Ukraine with fighter jets, it could escalate and expand the war, potentially putting Russia in direct confrontation with nuclear-armed rivals in the West.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden flies to Europe on Wednesday for an emergency NATO summit on Ukraine, where invading Russian troops are stalled, cities are under bombardment and the besieged port of Mariupol is in flames.
Four weeks into a war that has driven a quarter of Ukraine's 44 million people from their homes, Russia has failed to capture a single major Ukrainian city, while Western sanctions have ostracised it from the world economy.
After failing in what Western countries say was an attempt to seize Kyiv swiftly and depose the government, Russian forces have taken heavy losses, are frozen in place for at least a week on most fronts and face supply problems and fierce resistance.