World leaders held crisis meetings to prepare for Russian nuclear attack: book

World leaders were so concerned about Russian President Vladimir Putin launching nukes in Ukraine that crisis meetings were held — after “exquisite” US intel concluded there was a 50% chance the Kremlin would deploy the doomsday weapon, a new book reveals.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss spent her final days in office in October 2022 preparing for the worst — poring over weather forecasts to assess the risk of nuclear fallout if Russia were to launch nuclear weapons at Ukraine.

Truss spent “numerous hours studying satellite weather data and wind directions,” concerned there could be a “direct fallout effect on Britain” after receiving the US intelligence, Truss’ new biography “Out of the Blue” claims, according to the Telegraph.

The UK’s former defense secretary, Ben Wallace, also visited Washington, DC, for talks amid the crisis, according to the outlet.

American journalist Bob Woodward also said in his new book, “War,” that White House officials believed there was a 50% chance Russia would unload a nuclear weapon based on intelligence it received.

President Biden confirmed that same month there was a “direct threat” of Russia deploying nuclear weapons “if … things continue down the path they are going.”

“If he has no intention, why does he keep talking about it?” Biden questioned during an interview. “Why does he talk about the ability to use a tactical nuclear weapon?”

Putin, meanwhile, denied that there were plans to deploy the weapons days later, saying, “There is no point in that, neither politically nor military.”

The revelation comes before Biden and Donald Trump are scheduled to meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday, when Biden is expected to make a final plea with the president-elect to continue US military support in Ukraine.

“President Biden will make the case that we do need ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term, because the threat to Ukraine will remain no matter what exactly happens on the battlefield or at the negotiating table, and the United States should not walk away from its commitment, either to Ukraine or to 50 nations that we have rallied in defense of Ukraine in both Europe and Asia,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS News this weekend.

Biden plans to burn through the remaining congressionally approved $6 billion in Ukraine security assistance funds before he steps down as president in January, which he assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he would do when Zelensky visited Washington, DC, months ago, according to Sullivan.

“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” he said.

Trump has vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine war on “day one” when he’s back in the White House and has long been critical of the US’s costly military aid for Kyiv. He’s repeatedly bragged about his good relationship with Putin.

The incoming commander-in-chief warned Putin against ramping up the ongoing military conflict in the phone call with the Russian strongman and tech mogul Elon Musk last week after his election victory.

Trump said he hoped to hold follow-up conversations to discuss “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon,” the Washington Post reported.

While Trump has not outlined exactly how he will end the conflict, Vice President-elect JD Vance had publicly laid out a more specific plan that would feature a demilitarized zone between the two warring nations and entail a pledge that Ukraine wouldn’t join NATO.

Zelensky called Vance “radical” and ripped that plan — although he has been optimistic that a new Trump administration would continue supporting Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president has demanded a return to his country’s 1991 borders, which would mean control of Crimea and the Donbas region which Russia has occupied since 2014.

New British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to ask Biden to provide Ukraine with a $20 billion loan before Trump takes office when they meet next week, according to the Telegraph.