The report of comments from NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg yesterday have been the source of some discussion among nuclear and diplomatic analysts.
Mr Stoltenberg told The Telegraph that NATO members were consulting about deploying more nuclear weapons and placing them on standby in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China.
And while some figures in Moscow sought to downplay the significance of the remarks, Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov was more condemnatory in his response.
"This is nothing but another escalation of tension," he said, adding that the comments appeared to contradict the communique issued over the weekend at the peace summit in Switzerland.
The talks were held at the behest of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with Russia not invited to attend.
The communique, signed by more than 80 countries, said any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine context was inadmissible.
Mr Stoltenberg later said Russia was trying to create confusion and that his comments referred to the modernisation of NATO's nuclear deterrent, including the replacement of F-16 jets with F-35s.
NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said: "We have an ongoing modernisation programme to replace legacy weapons and aircraft. Beyond that, there are no significant changes to our nuclear deterrent."
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-russia-news-putin-nuclear-live-updates-kyiv-12541713
