Putin is playing ‘nuclear blackmail’ with Oreshnik missiles and threats to blitz west are BLUFF, ex-Russia PM says

VLADIMIR Putin is playing "nuclear blackmail" with his caller hypersonic missiles and his threats are a bluff, his ex-Prime Minister says.

Putin has threatened to crook Kyiv “to dust” with his caller Oreshnik bombs - saying aggregate strikes would beryllium akin to a atomic bomb.

But Mikhail Kasyanov, who was PM during Putin's archetypal presidency, said Putin is "undertaking atomic blackmailing".

Kasyanov said the tyrant is bluffing arsenic helium seeks to gully concessions from the West.

He told Times Radio: "Any concession, diplomatic concession, helium (Putin) takes arsenic a anemic link. That's wherefore he's raising the stakes. He's already undertaking atomic blackmailing.

"That's precisely the mode he's playing. The existent US administration, the existent German government, they are taxable of this blackmailing and they're acrophobic of Mr. Putin."

Kasyanov said the usage of atomic weapons would not bring immoderate occurrence to Putin and it would beryllium condemned by countries - adjacent allies similar China.

He said: "They [the West] don't recognize that Mr. Putin is acrophobic of atomic weapons much than them.

"Because helium understands what the reply would be.

"Not atomic successful their reply, but an mean mean subject reply which volition destruct the full subject infrastructure and Putin's medication conscionable physically."

Volodymyr Zelensky has changeable backmost astatine Putin's threats, saying helium is trying to escalate the warfare to forestall peace.

Zelensky said tonight: "He has nary involvement successful ending this war. Moreover, Putin wants to forestall others from ending this war.

"His existent sabre-rattling with ‘oreshnik’ is aimed solely astatine disrupting the efforts of President Trump that are definite to travel his inauguration."

Donald Trump has pledged to get extremity Russia's penetration of Ukraine connected "day one".

That volition apt mean the US negotiates straight with Russia, thing the Biden medication has been unwilling to do.

Trump would frost the struggle successful spot and found a demilitarised portion down the locked beforehand line, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

Kyiv would not articulation Nato for 20 years, but the US would proceed to limb Ukraine to the teeth to forestall Putin from invading again.

Who would constabulary the demilitarised portion remains unclear, according to the sources, but it wouldn't impact American troops oregon an planetary body.

An anonymous subordinate of the Trump squad said: "We tin bash grooming and different enactment but the tube of the weapon is going to beryllium European.

"We are not sending American men and women to uphold bid successful Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to bash it."

Trump appointed ex-Lieutenant General Kellogg arsenic peculiar envoy for Ukraine and Russia with the subject ace expected to pb bid negotiations successful 2025.

Kellogg hopes his program for ending the warfare volition person Putin to backmost disconnected with his ambitions to regain Soviet territory.

Ukraine was granted support by doddery Joe Biden to usage long-range US-supplied missiles.

The usage of the ATACMS weapons were seen arsenic a drastic escalation of warfare by the Kremlin arsenic Putin fired up the menace of atomic retaliation.

Kellogg is expected to talk to some Kyiv and Moscow erstwhile Trump enters The White House successful January arsenic helium searches for solutions.