If Putin Uses Nuclear Bomb, Russian Army Would Be "Annihilated” In Response: Borrell

On Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Moscow that if President Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine, the Western military would "annihilate" the Russian army in response.

"Putin claims he is not bluffing. Well, he can't afford to bluff and it has to be clear that Ukraine, the European Union and the Member States as well as the United States and NATO, aren't either bluffing," Borrell said at the launch of a Diplomatic Academy in Brussels.

"Any nuclear assault against Ukraine will elicit a response, not a nuclear response, but a military response so powerful that the Russian Army will be decimated," he added. 

Fears that Moscow may use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine have intensified after Putin delivered veiled threats while staging the annexation of four seized territories in the face of fighting losses.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has also warned Russia that launching a nuclear assault on its pro-Western neighbour will have "grave consequences."

"There would be a harsh response and definitely will end at a physical response from several countries and potentially from NATO itself,” a senior NATO official said on Wednesday.

However, the alliance has refrained from threatening to deploy its nuclear arsenal in response because non-member Ukraine is not covered by the alliance's self-defence clause.

For fear of igniting a catastrophic nuclear catastrophe with Moscow, the US and NATO have so far refrained from participating militarily in the Ukraine conflict.