British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace accused French President Emmanuel Macron of "revealing the cards" in a nuclear war of words between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the West.
This is reported by The Telegraph.
The French president said earlier that he rules out a nuclear response if the Russian president uses his nuclear arsenal against Ukraine.
NATO, the US and the UK are pursuing a cautious policy of uncertainty about how they might respond to Putin's nuclear threats.
Asked about France's position, Britain's defense minister told a meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels that "this reveals President Macron's cards."
"We believe that if Russia were to use nuclear weapons, it would have serious consequences for Russia. It would be a violation of the 1945 taboo on the use of nuclear weapons. And it would leave it incredibly isolated from the rest of the world," Wallace said.
NATO sources said Macron's comments threatened the "principles of deterrence". "We don't go into the details of the scenarios," they said.
Macron said France would not use its nuclear deterrent against Russia in response to a nuclear attack against Ukraine to avoid "global war".
