'I don’t believe Russia will use nuclear bombs,' says Ukrainian president

BERLIN (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he doesn’t believe that Russia will use nuclear bombs.

His remarks came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is not bluffing about his nuclear warning to the West.

“I don’t believe that he will use these weapons. I don’t believe that the world will allow him to use these weapons,” Zelenskyy told Germany’s Bild TV.

However, there still is some risk, he added.

"We can't look into this person's head, there are risks,” he said.

Putin announced a partial military mobilization earlier on Wednesday and also underlined that Russia will use all means to defend the country.

Commenting on Putin’s announcement, Zelenskyy said Russia had started implementing this plan long before it was made public.

“Our intelligence services and our allies have already said this,” he said, adding that the Russian military have been sending young people without sufficient training to Ukraine, as it is suffering manpower shortages.

“(Putin) needs an army of millions to fight us. Because he sees that a large part of those who come to us simply run away,” he said.

Zelenskyy vowed to take back territories occupied by the Russian troops, and called on Germany and Western countries to increase their military support to Ukraine.

“Ukraine is grateful for the military and financial support from Germany but needs more to win the war,” Zelenskyy said.

“We need battle tanks, so that we can save more lives,” he added.