US will destroy Russian army, fleet if Putin uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine - ex-CIA director 

This is reported by The Guardian.

According to Petraeus, the US and its allies will destroy Russian troops and weapons in Ukraine and sink the Russian Black Sea Fleet if Russian President Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons.

He added that he spoke on this topic with US President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan and knows that Washington has repeatedly warned Moscow about the consequences.

"Hypothetically, we and our NATO allies would respond and destroy all Russian conventional forces that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as in Crimea and on any ship in the Black Sea," Petraeus said.

Asked whether Russia's use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine would involve the United States and NATO in a war, Petraeus noted that it would not trigger Article 5 of the Alliance on Collective Defense. However, he is convinced that the reaction of the allies depicted by him would be correct.

At the same time, he added that the spread of radiation on the territory of one of the NATO countries can be interpreted as an attack on a member of the Alliance.

Petraeus emphasized that Putin is desperate because of the defeats in Ukraine, and the use of tactical nuclear weapons will not change the situation on the battlefield.

"It could still get worse for Putin and Russia. And even using tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield won't change that at all. But you have to take the threat seriously," Petraeus said.