The world is closer now to nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis, an expert says as tension between Russia and the West increases.
It comes amid increasing discontent among Russian citizens with thousands clashing with police after President Vladimir Putin conscripted 300,000 more men to fight in the war against Ukraine.
On Wednesday Putin announced Russia's first military mobilisation since World War Two triggering protests and public backlash.
The President also threatened the use of nuclear weapons sparking condemnation from across the world.
"If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all available means to protect our people - this is not a bluff," Putin said in a televised address to the nation, adding Russia had "lots of weapons to reply".
Speaking with AM on Monday director of the Russia-Eurasia Programme at Chatham House James Nixey said while it's unlikely Putin will deploy nuclear weapons, his threats shouldn't be taken lightly.
"Of course we should be worried in the sense that the possibilities in the extreme end are global nuclear war are things that naturally should concern us and I have to concede that we are closer to that than we are at any time since the Cuban missile crisis in 1963," Nixey said.
But despite the threats, Nixey said threatening the use of nuclear weapons isn't new for Russia and it's unlikely they will follow through.
"On the other hand, the Russians have been using nuclear rhetoric, nuclear threats quite honestly for the past 15 years. There are a lot of steps to go through. It's not as simple as pressing a button and I think it is relatively unlikely they will use a nuclear weapon on the battlefield or elsewhere.
"That's not to say it's absolutely impossible but because they know the stakes, and they know this would just end it for them because this war, which has so far been confined to Ukraine, would extend out and the possible risks of fallout into Russia itself...I think this is a relatively unlikely point."
He said untimely Russia is threatening nuclear war in the hopes the West will concede which means it's unlikely because the West doesn't want to give in to nuclear blackmail.
Nixey also said Putin's decision to throw more soldiers at the war shows he knows using nuclear weapons isn't really on the table.
"Putin had to do something and the possibilities vary between using a tactical nuclear weapon to conceding defeat weren't really on the table.
"So this [conscriptions] is an effort to shove more men at the problem who will effectively be sent to the frontline and they will either freeze because they won't have a sufficient kit or they will be so-called canon fodder and they will effectively be sentenced to death."
Putin is facing discontent from his own people and increasing international criticism. Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned his threats of nuclear weapons.
"To claim they would use and could use any other additional weapons that are available to them flies in the face of the lie they have told that they are there to liberate others, and yet they would use the threat of such weapons against them," Ardern said.
"This, for me, highlights just the falsehood around this war."
Ardern said New Zealand stood "firmly against the escalation of this illegal invasion".
"Here, clearly, Putin has threatened escalation and we absolutely condemn the illegal invasion and escalation of it.
"What's deeply concerning is how freely he's talking about the use of those weapons.
"What we need here is a rallying cry from the world. What is happening in Ukraine is illegal, it's immoral, it's causing the loss of civilian lives and that loss could extend if, as Putin has claimed, he broadens the type of weapons he uses in this war."
