The US believes Russia will not use nuclear weapons in response to attacks deep into Ukraine's territory - Reuters quoted US intelligence sources as saying on November 28.
For months, US officials have been locked in an often divisive debate over whether outgoing President Joe Biden should make a final decision to allow Kiev to use US-made long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory.
Also according to Reuters, it seems that concerns about escalating conflicts or using nuclear weapons are being exaggerated, although some officials at the White House, the Pentagon and the US Secretary of State initially expressed concerns about a serious retaliation from Russia targeting US and allied military bases.
Other sources also said that the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons is low and this will not change even if President Joe Biden decides to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of ATACMS.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the use of long-range missiles supplied by the West would profoundly change the nature of the conflict, insisting that such modern weapons systems cannot be operated without the direct involvement of NATO forces.
In a video address on November 21, Mr. Putin emphasized that Russia has the right to attack military targets outside Ukraine and affirmed that it will respond strongly in case of more extreme actions.
In early November, Russia officially revised its nuclear doctrine and lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons. Moscow declared that it had the right to deploy its nuclear arsenal to respond to attacks that posed a serious threat to Russia's sovereignty.
