bluffing

They were highly organised and unlikely to be bluffing - the traffickers had texted her children directly in the past and knew where they lived and which school they went to.

As the conference approached its scheduled end this week, the U.N.’s climate chief chided negotiators for digging in their heels and wasting time with bluffing and brinkmanship.

Putin has previously warned that such a move from the US would amount to direct participation of Nato countries in the war - but Maj Omelyan said this was simply “bluffing”.

“I’m bluffing. But you wait and see. I’ll bluff the Justice Department into backing down.”

Most Western analysts think President Putin is bluffing when he rattles the nuclear sabre.