Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior European officials confirmed that Beijing delivered a message instructing Moscow not to even consider detonating tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons as a last resort in the Ukraine war, Bloomberg reported, citing people close to the Kremlin.

Tactical nuclear weapons are short-range nuclear arms designed for limited battlefield use rather than full cities or countries. While smaller than strategic weapons, they still possess immense destructive power and are capable of contaminating large areas of land with nuclear fallout.

The decision comes after Russia has concluded that negotiations for a peace deal with Ukraine have reached a dead end.

China and India have warned Putin against using nuclear weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior European officials confirmed that Beijing delivered a message instructing Moscow not to even consider detonating tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

However, for now, Russia is mulling to intensify powerful conventional ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv and other infrastructure targets in other cities.

Ukraine Has Opened “Pandora’s Box”

Ukraine has significantly expanded its long-range drone campaign deeper into Russian territory, explicitly targeting major e-commerce warehouses alongside oil refineries to cripple Russia’s wartime economy.

Since Ukraine receives weapons and intelligence to attack Russia from NATO member countries, Russia increasingly views Ukrainian strikes as direct attacks by NATO states.

Putin shrugged off the impacts of Western sanctions on Russia’s economy and said that Ukraine has “opened this Pandora’s box” and warned them to “be ready to get a blowback” on its most critical economic sectors.

CIA Chief In Moscow

CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow this week to warn Russia not to test the resolve of NATO by attacking one of its members, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the Journal, US intelligence agencies have assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin could consider testing NATO in the coming years with a limited military operation against an alliance member.

The concern is that Moscow may not necessarily begin with a full-scale attack. US officials believe the possible options could range from a cyberattack to a small ground incursion.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Ratcliffe’s meetings in Moscow were with Russian intelligence officials, not Putin, although the Russian president was briefed about the discussions.

Kremlin Dismisses NATO Attack Reports

Moscow has also rejected the reports coming from US media. Asked about reports that Russia could attack NATO following Ratcliffe’s unusual visit, Peskov dismissed them as speculation.

“A lot of such scare stories are being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality”, he said,

Ratcliffe’s trip is the latest in a series of high-level US contacts with Russia.