"I don't see Putin deciding to use a nuclear weapon," Stavridis said.

As Putin announced plans for partial military mobilization earlier this week, taking immediate steps to begin calling up 300,000 reservists, the Russian leader threatened the use of nuclear force in the event of a "threat" to Russia's "territorial integrity." .

"President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe, in a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime," President Joe Biden said of his Russian counterpart during a speech at the UN General Assembly this week..

Stavridis also said that Putin's military mobilization and nuclear threats were moves that "smack of desperation," a point many other expert observers have also argued