Putin issues chilling nuclear warning to UK as Russia runs out of troops: 'Deliver more weapons and face catastrophe'

Vladimir Putin has issued a nuclear warning to the UK as his country runs out of troops.

A close ally of the Russian President argued that deliveries of weapons to Kyiv threatening Russia will lead to a global “catastrophe”.

He went on to say that it would make arguments against the use of weapons of mass destruction indefensible.

Former deputy prime minister and head of Putin’s presidential administration, Vyacheslav Volodin, said: If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons,"

In a Telegram message he continued: “Arguments that the nuclear powers have not previously used weapons of mass destruction in local conflicts are untenable. Because these states did not face a situation where there was a threat to the security of their citizens and the territorial integrity of the country."

He added "Deliveries of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime will lead to a global catastrophe”.

It comes as former prime minister Boris Johnson said that the Russians would not use nuclear weapons.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Johnson said: “Putin wants to present it as a nuclear stand-off between Nato and Russia.

“Nonsense. He’s not going to use nuclear weapons, OK. He’s like the fat boy in Dickens, he wants to make our flesh creep. He wants us to think about it. He’s never going to do it.”

Last week, western allies pledged billions of pounds in weapons for Ukraine.

They failed to convince Germany to lift a veto on providing German-made Leopard battle tanks, which are held by an array of NATO nations but whose transfer to Ukraine requires Berlin's approval.