Vladimir Putin: Kremlin-linked reports say Putin is weighing wider strikes on Ukraine
Vladimir Putin is reportedly preparing to intensify Russia’s attacks on Ukraine after Moscow concluded that peace talks had reached a dead end, according to reporting attributed to people close to the Kremlin. The available reports do not establish that Russia is preparing to use a tactical nuclear weapon; one assessment described that risk as extremely low.
Kremlin-linked reports say Putin is weighing wider strikes on Ukraine
People close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg that Russia is considering heavier conventional ballistic-missile attacks on Kyiv, including the city centre, as well as strikes on infrastructure in other Ukrainian cities. The account, published by Meduza, says Moscow believes negotiations have failed and that further escalation may be the remaining way to pursue its military aims.
Those claims remain attributed to unnamed sources rather than being presented as a public decision by Putin. The same report says Russia believes Ukrainian attacks on its oil refineries and logistics networks are effectively attacks by Nato members because Ukraine receives weapons and intelligence from alliance countries.
The report also says a growing number of Russian officials believe the confrontation could eventually lead Putin to consider using a tactical nuclear weapon. However, it explicitly says there are no signs that Russia is preparing to use such weapons in Ukraine. Alexander Gabuev of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center told Bloomberg that the risk remained extremely low, while Russia has previously made nuclear threats to pressure Ukraine’s Western allies.
Why the reports mention pressure on Nato
A separate BBC analysis said US intelligence assessments had reported that Putin might be planning a limited assault on a Nato ally. It also reported that domestic pressure was building on the Russian leadership to respond to Ukrainian long-range drone strikes, which have affected Russia’s energy industry and brought the consequences of the war closer to ordinary Russians.
The BBC said one US official described a meeting involving CIA director John Ratcliffe as primarily intended to warn Russia against taking escalatory action against the Baltic states. The report also referred to Russian warnings about possible strikes on British military targets in response to Ukrainian attacks using British missiles. These claims indicate the wider concern surrounding the war, but they do not establish that Putin has ordered an attack on a Nato member.
What the Moscow intelligence visit establishes
Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow on a US government aircraft and met Russian intelligence officials, including Sergei Naryshkin, according to the BBC. The Kremlin confirmed the visit, while the Guardian reported that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ratcliffe did not meet Putin.
The purpose of the visit remains unresolved. The Guardian reported that Donald Trump rejected speculation that it was intended to respond to fears that Putin would test Nato’s resolve, while a Wall Street Journal report cited by the paper said Ratcliffe had gone to warn Russia not to attack Nato countries. Peskov did not provide a reason for the visit and described predictions of improved US-Russian relations as premature.
Taken together, the reporting supports a clear distinction: there are claims of preparations for stronger conventional attacks on Ukraine and warnings about possible pressure on Nato, but no confirmed public evidence in these reports that Putin has authorised either an assault on a Nato member or the use of a nuclear weapon.