According to the United States, it does not believe there is a threat from Russian nuclear weapons, despite Moscow’s recent verbal arming. “We continue to monitor their nuclear capabilities every day to the best of our ability. We do not feel there is a threat of Russian use of nuclear weapons,” said a US Department of Defense official. Nor could the US see any threat to NATO areas.
According to US estimates, some of the Russian attacks on Kiev are aimed at destroying weapons factories in Ukraine. The US official said the attacks were part of Russian efforts to limit Ukraine’s ability to manufacture military equipment. Furthermore, Russia appears to be behind in its military operations in Donbass.
According to Western sources, Russian losses in Ukraine have decreased but “are still quite high”. The background to the decline is that the fighting was taking place in a smaller area, says one of several Western representatives who declined to be named. Ukraine has previously spoken of heavy casualties on both sides.