Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief spokesman has conceded that Russia has yet to achieve any of its military goals in Ukraine and refused to deny that Moscow could resort to the use of nuclear weapons.
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, Dmitry Peskov repeatedly refused to rule out that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons against what Moscow saw as an "existential threat." When asked under what conditions Putin would use Russia's nuclear capability, Peskov replied, "if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be."
When asked what Putin thought he had achieved in Ukraine so far, Peskov answered: "Well, first of all, not yet. He hasn't achieved yet."
The spokesman also claimed that the "special military operation" -- the Kremlin's official euphemism for Russia's invasion in Ukraine -- was "going on strictly in accordance with the plans and the purposes that were established before hand."
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