News - World: The Kremlin has rejected a British media report that Russia was willing to show its willingness to use nuclear weapons in the conflict with Ukraine.

On Monday, The Times newspaper reported that Russia was preparing to carry out a nuclear test on Ukraine's border.

According to the London-based newspaper, NATO had warned its members over the possible nuclear test by Russia.

The newspaper also claimed that a train the Russian defense ministry’s nuclear division operated was destined for Ukraine.

Commenting on the Times report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday Russia did not want to participate in what he called Western exercises in "nuclear rhetoric".

"The Western media, Western politicians and heads of state are engaging in a lot of exercises in nuclear rhetoric right now," Peskov said. "We do not want to take part in this."

Meanwhile, Italian daily La Repubblica reported Sunday that NATO had sent its members a report on the alleged movements of the Belgorod nuclear submarine.

"Now it is back to dive in the Arctic seas and it is feared that its mission is to test for the first time the super-torpedo Poseidon, often referred to as 'the weapon of the Apocalypse'," La Repubblica claimed.

Britain’s foreign minister James Cleverly has said there would be a response by the UK to the use of what he called "tactical" nuclear weapons by Russia.

Also, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday that Russia's threat to resort to nuclear weapons must be taken seriously, accusing Moscow of trying to blackmail western countries with what she called “irresponsible threats”. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. At the time, Putin said one of the goals of what he called a "special military operation" was to "de-Nazify" Ukraine.

Since the onset of the February conflict between the two countries, the United States and its European allies have imposed an array of sanctions on Russia and sent numerous batches of advanced weapons to Ukraine.

Source: Press TV

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