HUMILIATED Vladimir Putin admitted failures in Ukraine today – but also threatened a "global catastrophe" as his allies warned the West not to "push him into a corner".
Russia is said to be running low on missiles and is desperate to return to the negotiating table now his troops are on the run in Ukraine.
Mad Vlad launched a blitz of more than 100 missiles on Ukrainian cities this week in revenge for the Crimea bridge bombing.
Western officials today condemned the "further barbaric assaults on the civilian population" – but analysts believe Putin cannot keep it up.
One official said: "Russia is rapidly exhausting its supply of long range precision munitions – in particular its air-launched cruise missiles.
"So this is not a campaign it will be able to sustain indefinitely."
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Putin today fuelled doubts over his stockpile in a speech at a summit of ex-Soviet states in Kazakhstan.
He said he has no plans for further "massive strikes – for now", and added: "We do not set ourselves the task of destroying Ukraine. No, of course not."
He also said Russia was willing to hold peace talks with international mediation.
And in a rare admission of failure, Putin said it was "impossible" to hold the line in Ukraine without thousands of new conscripts.
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Putin deploys 11 nuclear bombers near Nato border as Russia warns of WW3
He claimed 222,000 men had been called up so far out of a target of 300,000 and the mobilisation will last another two weeks.
The tyrant said: "The line of contact is 1,100 km (680 miles), so it is practically impossible to hold it with forces formed only of contract soldiers, especially since they take part in offensive activities."
However he insisted he had no regrets over the "unpleasant" war.
And in a chilling threat to Nato, he warned: "The introduction of troops into a direct confrontation with the Russian army is a very dangerous step that could lead to a global catastrophe.
"I hope that those who speak of this have enough sense not to take such steps."
Meanwhile Alexander Lukashenko, Putin's puppet dictator in Belarus, warned Russia has nuclear weapons "for a reason".
He told NBC: "The most important thing is, don't drive your interlocutor and even your opponent into a corner.
"So you mustn't cross those lines – those red lines, as the Russians say. You can't cross them.
"As for nuclear weapons, any weapon is a weapon created for something."
At the summit, Lukashenko announced the start of a "counter-terrorist operation".
A total of 70,000 Russian and Belarus troops will mass on the border of Ukraine – the staging post for the failed assault on Kyiv in February.
It has prompted fears Putin will force his neighbour to enter the conflict.
Other analysts reckon Russia is in no position to open a new front as troops are low on morale and running out of firepower.
The Kremlin has been lobbying Western leaders to convince Ukraine's president Volodymy Zelensky back to the negotiating table, sources told news site Meduza.
But sources say Putin only wants a ceasefire as cover to regroup and restock ahead of a fresh "full-scale offensive" in February or March.
Zelensky has ruled out any negotiation, insisting the war will end when the last Russian troops leave Ukrainian soil.
Analysts reckon Russia has used up at least two-thirds of its precision long-range missiles in the eight-month conflict.
Its full range was deployed in the blitz earlier this week, including Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise missiles fired by strategic bombers, sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles and ground-launched Iskander missiles.
Russian troops are also said to have repurposed S-300 surface-to-air missiles to attack targets on the ground.
This is a sign Russia is running low on the mpore advanced missiles intended for the task, Ian Williams, a fellow at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies told ABC News.
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Ukraine government official Oleksi Reznikov said Russia has "demilitarised" itself by using up most of its missiles.
He tweeted: "Russia's military defeat is inevitable."
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