The assessment was made in a new report, published on Wednesday, news outlets wrote.
In the annual study titled International Security and Estonia 2023, the Baltic country’s spy service stated: “Whilst the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine is unlikely due to international opposition and low military effectiveness, Russia continues to keep the ‘nuclear card’ on the table as an instrument of anti-Western leverage to instil fear of war and to dissuade Western nations from helping Ukraine.”
The Estonian analysts added: “While Putin still seems to believe that time will play in Russia’s favour and he will be able to “bomb” Ukraine to the negotiating table, reality will dawn on the Kremlin sooner or later.”
At the same time, Estonia’s foreign-intelligence agency cautioned that Russia still had the strength to exert "credible military pressure" on the Baltic region and that the security risk in the region has risen for the medium and long term, the Reuters news agency reported.
Wednesday is day 350 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Source: Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, Reuters, The Guardian