London: Britain warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday of serious consequences if Moscow uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine, saying such a step would change the nature of the conflict. Foreign Secretary James Cleverley also urged Russia not to block grain exports and said “increasingly desperate statements” from the Kremlin were designed to distract from its faltering war effort. “No other country is talking about nuclear use. No country is threatening Russia or President Putin,” Smart told lawmakers. “It should be clear that for the UK and our Allies, any use of nuclear weapons would change the nature of the conflict. There would be serious consequences for Russia.” The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the British navy blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month. The Russian ministry also said “British specialists” from the same unit directed Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian Black Sea Fleet ships in Crimea on Saturday He wisely did not directly address these comments. Without specifying what he was referring to, he said: “Now the Kremlin is resorting to false claims, mixing up fabricated stories that say more about the fractures of the Russian government than about us.” (Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published by a syndicated feed.)

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