Russia-Ukraine war live: Russian forces will be ‘annihilated’ if Putin uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine, says senior EU official

EU foreign policy chief rules out nuclear response to Putin but vows powerful answer from military

• At a glance: what we know on day 232 of the invasion

The admission of Ukraine to Nato could result in a third world war, the deputy secretary of the Russian security council, Alexander Venediktov, told the Russian state Tass news agency in an interview on Thursday.

Tass cited Venediktov as saying:

Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to a World War Three.

Apparently, that's what they are counting on - to create informational noise and draw attention to themselves once again."