Kremlin says Russia doesn’t need military escalation because its army is ‘advancing anyway’

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Bloomberg news agency that Russia is delivering a “heavy response” to Ukraine’s strikes on its economic and trade infrastructure, but said Moscow “simply doesn’t need” military escalation.

“Ukraine is trying to hit our economic infrastructure, our trading infrastructure, thus causing a response from our side, and this will be a heavy response,” Peskov said. “But if you’re speaking about military escalation, we simply don’t need it because we are advancing anyway.”

He was responding to a Bloomberg report that the Kremlin is preparing to escalate strikes on Ukraine, believing peace talks have reached a dead end. According to the agency, Russia is considering intensifying strikes with conventional ballistic missiles on Kyiv, including the center of the Ukrainian capital, as well as on infrastructure facilities in other Ukrainian cities.

Sources close to the Kremlin say a growing number of Russian officials believe Putin could ultimately resort to an extreme measure: using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The agency said there are currently no signs Russia is preparing to use such weapons.