Kakha Gogolashvili, a director of the European Research Center, told Front News on Monday that it was possible Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage to use nuclear weapons in Russia’s war against Ukraine to blackmail the world, as “his moves are hard to predict” and that Putin “has nothing to lose”. 

“Putin has already committed such crimes that, after he loses the war, he is very unlikely to stay alive. The international community believes that the threat of using strategic nuclear weapons in the ongoing conflict is low, but even the use of tactical weapons would certainly cause a lot of damage to Ukraine, first of all, and put the whole world at great risk”, Gogolashvili said. 

He stated that if Russia takes the step, the response would be “harsh”. 

“In this case, NATO and the United States will be directly involved in the war. This will bring no good for Russia, nor for Putin," Gogolashvili added. 

Gogolashvili suggested that it was important that Putin was stopped by his entourage.

"It is possible that the people around him, the military, representatives of the intelligence and secret services, will stop Putin from making such a decision. We can rely on that more than anything else. In any case, if nuclear weapons are used, there will be millions of victims. On the other hand, in the face of this blackmail, Ukraine will not retreat and give up the territories that had been occupied by Russia", said Gogolashvili.