Pentagon: Use of 'dirty bomb' by Russia would bring 'consequences'

The Pentagon has reiterated that if Russia were to deploy nuclear weapons or a nuclear-contaminated bomb "there would be consequences."

"There would be consequences for Russia, whether it uses a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb," Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a press briefing.

Ryder said that he wouldn't go into details about what the consequences would be, but they have "been communicated at a variety of levels" to Russia.

The Pentagon spokesperson also said that Russian allegations that Ukraine is preparing a "dirty bomb" are false.

Ryder said that the US was "constantly monitoring" the situation.

"I'm not going to go into specific details of how, when and where. But needless to say, it's something that we take very seriously and continue to monitor 24/7."