No One in Russia Thinking about Using Nuclear Weapons, Kremlin Spokesman Says

The interviewer asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had suggested in his earlier statement that he would use nuclear weapons if a third party got involved in the conflict in Ukraine and Peskov said ‘no.’ "I don’t think so. But he was quite bold in saying ‘do not interfere, if you do, we have all the possibilities to prevent that and to punish all those who are going to interfere," he said, TASS reported.

When asked if he could rule out the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict on behalf of Russia, the Kremlin spokesman said: "No one is thinking about using… even about the idea of using nuclear weapons."

US President Joe Biden’s recent remark about Russian leader Vladimir Putin is quite alarming, Peskov told.

"It's quite alarming. First of all, it's a personal insult and one can hardly imagine a place for a personal insult in the rhetoric of a political leader and especially of the political leader of the greatest country in the world, the United States. So we are very sorry about that," he pointed out. "His statement about whether Putin should not or should be in power in Russia is of course unacceptable. It's not for the United States' president to decide who is going to be and who the president of Russia is, it is the people of Russia who decide it during elections," Peskov added.

Western countries have actually declared total economic war against Russia, Peskov stated.

"We have to adapt ourselves to new conditions. And unfortunately, those conditions are quite unfriendly," he said, commenting on Western sanctions.

"We entered the phase of a total war," Peskov pointed out. "Western European countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, they are actually leading war against us in trade, in economy, in seizing our properties, in seizing our funds, in blocking our financial relations. And we have to adapt ourselves to the new reality," the Kremlin spokesman stressed.