Russian nuclear attack in Ukraine would cross ‘very important line,’ NATO chief warns

Amid Russia's bombing campaign in Ukraine, United States President Joe Biden has said the world faces the biggest risk of nuclear Armageddon since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russia would cross a “very important line” if it used nuclear weapons in Ukraine, NATO’s secretary general warned Thursday.

In fact, Moscow would face “severe consequences” in the event of a nuclear strike, Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Belgium.

“We will not go into how exactly we will respond, but of course this will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict,” he said.

“It will mean that a very important line has been crossed. Even any use of a smaller nuclear weapon will be a very serious thing, changing the nature of the war in Ukraine.”

Stoltenberg’s comments come following a two-day meeting with NATO defence ministers in which they discussed support for Ukraine, while Russian missiles continued to rain over parts of the country.

Russia has ramped up its bombing campaign in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has seen Kyiv’s forces take back territory once held by Russia in the east. In response to the embarrassing defeats, Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions and ordered a partial mobilization of troops to the region.

He has also upped the nuclear rhetoric, warning on Sept. 21 he was not bluffing when he said he would be willing to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia against what he claimed was “nuclear blackmail” from major western powers. U.S. President Joe Biden has said the world faces the biggest risk of nuclear Armageddon since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Meanwhile, western support for Ukraine has continued while the nation has fast-tracked its bid to join NATO. On Thursday, a Russian Security Council official was quoted in state media as saying Ukrainian admission into the military alliance would mean a “guaranteed escalation” into a Third World War.