By Andrew Gray

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO members should not be deterred from giving more military aid to Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s “reckless Russian nuclear rhetoric”, outgoing NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Stoltenberg was reacting to a declaration from Putin last week that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.

Putin’s warning came as the United States and its allies deliberate over whether to let Ukraine fire conventional Western missiles deep into Russia. Kyiv says it wants permission to hit targets that are part of Russia’s war effort.

“What we have seen is a pattern of reckless Russian nuclear rhetoric and messaging, and this fits into that pattern,” Stoltenberg, who hands over the NATO leadership to Dutch ex-prime minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday after a decade in charge.

“Every time we have stepped up our support with new types of weapons – battle tanks, long-range fires or F-16s – the Russians have tried to prevent us,” Stoltenberg told Reuters at NATO headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels.

“They have not succeeded and also this latest example should not prevent NATO allies from supporting Ukraine.”

(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Peter Graff)