Russian President Vladimir Putin could be signing his own suicide note by using nuclear weapons on Ukraine, a former US national security advisor has said.
John Bolton suggested that America could assassinate the ailing Russian if he unleashes nuclear weapons on Ukraine.
Mr Bolton, who also served as US ambassador to the United Nations during the George W. Bush's administration, was speaking on British radio station LBC when he made the remarks.
He said: ”We need to make clear [that] if Putin were to order the use of a tactical nuclear weapon he would be signing a suicide note.
“I think that’s what it may take to deter him if he gets into extreme circumstances.”
Host and former BBC political editor Andrew Marr asked Mr Bolton whether he meant assassination by his “suicide note” remark.
Mr Bolton replied: “We cannot allow the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine or anywhere else from terrorists like Iran, or North Korea, as well as from Russia or China, without the person who was responsible for that decision being held accountable.
He added that he believes the US has the ability to target the Russian leader.
"You can ask Qassem Soleimani in Iran what happens when we just decide somebody is a threat to the United States,” he continued, referring to the US killing one of Tehran’s top generals in a January 2020 drone stroke.
Mr Bolton also said that Russia’s performance on the battlefield in Ukraine was “extraordinarily poor".
“The fact is, Russia’s military has not been anything like what our Western intelligence services believed,” he said.
“And yet I think collectively, NATO has not provided the level of assistance the Ukrainians really need, certainly not provided it at the right time.
“This is not the time to back away.
"It’s not the time to talk about negotiations with Putin.
"His own domestic political difficulties are rising.
“Ultimately, I don’t see how the West can deal with a Putin government when this war is over.”
In recent days Russia has bombed the Ukraine capital Kyiv in retaliation for a strike which destroyed a bridge connecting Russia with Crimea.
