UK Prime Minister on response if Putin escalates Ukraine crisis

(CNN) - Britain's new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, says Russian President Vladimir Putin is lashing out because he isn't winning his war against Ukraine, and has even been outsmarted.

"Well, first of all the reason Putin is doing this is because he isn't winning. He made a strategic mistake invading Ukraine and I think he has been outsmarted by the Ukrainians. We've seen the Ukrainians continue to push back against the Russian offensive and I think he didn't anticipate the strength of reaction from the free world and we should not be listening to his saber rattling and his bogus threats. Instead, what we need to do is continue to put sanctions on Russia and continue to support the Ukrainians. Because if Putin is allowed to succeed, this wouldn't just send a terrible message in Europe and of course huge threats to the Ukrainian population themselves."

Partial Mobilization

Putin last week declared the "partial mobilization" of citizens.

He said he would use "all the means at our disposal."

Even raising the specter of nuclear weapons to maintain "territorial integrity" of Russia.