Russia doesn't need to rely on nuclear weapons to achieve its objectives in Ukraine, said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, contending that his country's battlefield progress has dispelled the notion that the West can supply Ukraine with "superweapons" capable of radically altering the war's outcome.
"From a military point of view, there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve the set goals," Shoigu said. "Claims that chemical weapons could be used in Ukraine are also absurd.
Shoigu, speaking at the the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security, said the West's best weaponry is being "ground down in battles" and has had no major impact on the fighting.
In reality, premier U.S. weapons like the HIMARS missile system have been effective at destroying Russian ammunition depots and command centers and disrupting its supply lines, American and Ukrainian officials have said. But the Biden administration has not sent Ukraine the longer-range ammunition that could strike Russian targets from hundreds of miles away.