News - Middle East: The US believes a Russian nuclear strike is unlikely despite President Vladimir Putin’s warnings about US approval for Ukraine to launch missile strikes deep inside Russia, according to a report.

Citing five unnamed sources familiar with US intelligence, Reuters reported on Thursday that Washington’s decision to allow Kiev to use American weapons for deeper strikes into Russia has not notably increased the risk of nuclear escalation, despite Putin’s threats.

However, the sources - two senior officials, a lawmaker and two congressional aides - claimed that Moscow is likely to intensify what they called sabotage operations in Europe to pressure the West to scale back its support for the ex-Soviet republic.

Intelligence assessments over the past seven months have concluded that loosening restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US weapons is unlikely to cause nuclear escalation, a view that remains unchanged following US President Joe Biden's recent shift in policy, the sources added.

“The assessments were consistent: The ATACMs weren’t going to change Russia’s nuclear calculus,” said one congressional aide briefed on the intelligence.

The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACM) missiles have a range of slightly more than 300 kilometers, roughly four times the range of the missiles used by the mobile HIMARS systems that the US began sending to Ukraine in 2022.

Kiev has repeatedly said that such missiles will help its forces strike Russian positions far behind the front lines. Washington refused for months to agree to Ukraine’s requests for authorization to use the ATACMS missiles outside its own borders.

Earlier this month, however, Biden finally gave the green light for Kiev to use ATACMS missiles supplied by the US to strike inside Russia, a move that infuriated Putin, who warned that it would represent the US-led NATO military alliance’s “direct participation” in the Ukraine war.

Last week, Russia launched a new ballistic missile against Ukraine, a move seen by analysts as a warning to Washington and its European allies, but it has not altered the assessment that ATACM missiles are not to change Russia’s nuclear calculus.

North Korea's participation in the war, with thousands of its troops backing Russia, is considered to be a key factor in changing Washington’s position on long-range strikes inside Russia.

The shift followed internal debates within the Biden administration, where some officials worried the risks of provoking Russia surpassed the benefits, while others contended that earlier concerns, especially regarding nuclear escalation, were exaggerated.

Despite these reassurances, the situation remains tense. Russia has recently revised its nuclear doctrine, lowered the threshold for a strike, and continues to intensify its warfare efforts.

The Kremlin has not yet commented on the intelligence assessments.

Press TV