Russian President Vladimir Putin is “convinced” that his forces “doubling down” in their assault on Ukraine will enable them to progress, CIA director Bill Burns said Saturday, per AFP.

Between the lines: “He’s in a frame of mind in which he doesn’t believe he can afford to lose,” said Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, at the FT Weekend Festival in D.C. ahead of Russia’s annual Victory Day on Monday, which analysts warn could mark a pivotal moment in the invasion of Ukraine.

Yes, but: “We don’t see, as an intelligence community, practical evidence at this point of Russian planning for the deployment or even potential use of tactical nuclear weapons,” Burns said, according to AFP.