In case of a real nuclear threat from Russia, the aggressor country will receive a response from the world, and the Russian authorities understand this, adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak said in an interview with the German publication Bild, according to the press service of the President's Office.

"NATO is monitoring everything that is going on in Russia with nuclear weapons. And NATO categorically warns Russia that even if there is an attempt to use nuclear weapons, there will be a response. Today, Russia is gradually reducing its rhetorical threats with nuclear weapons. There is a protocol according to which nuclear states operate," he said.

Podoliak said that the world is already doing a lot to prevent Russia from using nuclear weapons, in particular, warning statements have been made by U.S. President Joseph Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. UN Secretary General António Guterres also called on Russia to immediately stop the rhetoric on nuclear threats.

The adviser to the Head of the President's Office noted that Russia invaded the territory of Ukraine with conventional weapons, and the Ukrainian troops launched a counteroffensive and repelled the Russian army also with conventional weapons.

"Russia says, 'If Ukraine does not allow us to leave the territories that we have invaded and which we cannot hold with conventional weapons, we will use nuclear weapons'," Podoliak said.

"This is how a nuclear state threatens a non-nuclear state. If Russia is not stopped now, other countries will abandon the NPT [the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons], since any war against a nuclear state will lead to losses. These countries will try to find nuclear weapon components on the black market or elsewhere. Russia not only threatens Ukraine, it breaks the key element of global security," he said.