The use of nuclear weapons is becoming increasingly likely as the Russian and Ukrainian militaries continue to blindly scramble up the escalation ladder through deep strikes into Russia, with alleged involvement from a NATO member country, military analysts warned on Monday.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has accused Latvia of planning to launch drones from its territory in direct attacks against the Russian Federation. Russia could attack Latvia if these plans became a reality, which could trigger a chain of events leading to the use of nuclear weapons, analysts said during a meeting at the Quincy Institute broadcast by CSPAN on Monday.

“There are proponents of, I guess we can call it ‘escalate to de-escalate,’ people like prominent Russian academic Sergei Karaganov, who believe Russia must drastically up the airstrike campaign against Ukraine, seriously consider the employment of low-yield nuclear weapons as a means of ending the war, and strike Western targets inside NATO,” Quincy Institute research fellow Mark Episkopos said during the meeting on Monday.

The Russian Embassy in Washington, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and NATO did not respond to a request for comment.

When the Daily Caller News Foundation asked the panel about the potential for nuclear weapons use in Europe, analysts on the panel laid out two scenarios where the Russians would employ tactical nuclear weapons.

“We’ve had warnings throughout this war. If we provide HIMARS [missiles], the Russians will retaliate in some dangerous way, ATACMS [missiles], F-16s, etcetera, etcetera, and in each case, the Russians have not retaliated against the West directly, and so the impression is created that the Russians will never retaliate against the West directly. It’s just too dangerous for them to do so,” director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute George Beebe said during the panel. “The danger we’re facing is, there’s only one way we’ll know for sure. And that is, after the Russians retaliate directly.” (Read more from “How Ukraine’s Drone War Could Drag World Into Nuclear War” HERE)

A Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker has sunk in the Mediterranean between Libya and Malta after it was hit by explosions and a fire, Libyan port officials have said.

Russia accused Ukraine of targeting the Arctic Metagaz with “uncrewed sea drones” launched from the Libyan coast.

Ukraine’s SBU state security service has not commented on the allegation and the Libyan port authority said the cause of the fire was unclear.

The Libyans said the tanker was carrying about 62,000 tonnes of LNG before the blasts and that it sank about 130 nautical miles (240km) north of the Libyan port of Sirte.

Russia’s transport ministry said 30 Russians were aboard the Arctic Metagaz. Maltese Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said they were all found “safe and sound in a lifeboat” during a rescue operation by Malta’s armed forces. (Read more from “Russia blames Ukrainian naval drones as tanker sinks in Mediterranean” HERE)

President Donald Trump expressed his continuing hope during a Sunday press conference at Mar-a-Lago that a peace deal could be reached between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Sunday with Trump in Florida, during which the two discussed a proposed 20-point peace plan. Trump later told reporters during a joint press conference he and Zelenskyy spoke with multiple European leaders after their meeting.

“I do think we’re getting a lot closer, maybe very close,” Trump said. “The President and I just spoke to the European leaders.”

“They were President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Alexander Stubb of the Republic of Finland, President Karol Nawrocki of the Republic of Poland, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of the Kingdom of Norway, Prime Minister Georgia Meloni of the Italian Republic, Prime Minister Kier Starmer of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland, Chancellor Friedrich Merz [of] the Federal Republic of Germany, Secretary General Mark Rutte, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, [and] President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission,” Trump continued.

Trump paused aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Zelenskyy clashed with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance during a Feb. 28 meeting in the Oval Office. (Read more from “‘I’m On The Side Of Peace’: Trump Optimistic For ‘Very Close’ Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal After Zelenskyy Meeting” HERE)