Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has said that Moscow would consider using nuclear weapons only when it sees an "existential threat."

In an interview with CNN, Peskov said that Russia's military operation in Ukraine is "progressing well according to pre-established plans and objectives" and  "no one expected that it would last a couple of days".

“We have a concept of national security, it is in the public domain, you can read all the reasons why nuclear weapons can be used. That is, if there is a threat to the existence of the country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept. There are no other reasons mentioned in this text,” Peskov replied when asked about the conditions under which Putin could use nuclear weapons.

He also said that liberating Mariupol – the city in Donbass currently witnessing a fierce battle – from "nationalist units" remains the main goal of the Russian military.

Peskov had yesterday refused to comment on Russia’s losses in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

"When asked by journalists to comment on reports about Russia’s losses in Ukraine, which were made public by the Komsomolskaya Pravda on Monday, and which seriously differ from the Russian defence ministry’s data, Peskov said, 'No, I cannot comment on it, you’d better ask the Komsomolskaya Pravda'," reported Russian news agency Tass.

The Kremlin spokesman said he doesn’t have the latest update concerning Russia’s losses. "We don’t have such information and have no right to make it public in the course of the military operation. It is the defence ministry’s prerogative," he said.

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