INTERNATIONAL:​ Russia will not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, foreign ministry spokesperson Alexei Zaitsev said on Friday (May 6), accusing those who suggested Moscow might launch a nuclear strike of "deliberate lies".

Zaitsev told reporters the use of nuclear weapons by Russia - a risk that Western officials have publicly discussed - was not applicable to what Moscow calls its 'special military operation' in Ukraine.

"Russia firmly adheres to the principle that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, and it must not be unleashed," Zaitsev said.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Alexey Zaitsev, Said:

"As I have already said, we have repeatedly had to refute insinuations about Russia's possible use of nuclear weapons in the course of its special military operation in Ukraine. This is a deliberate lie. Russia firmly adheres to the principle that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, and it (nuclear war) must not be unleashed. Last year, it was Russia that was able to convince the United States, and then the entire nuclear five, to reaffirm their adherence to this principle."