Russian President Vladimir Putin has amped up his nuclear threats to the West, saying that his military is technically prepared to launch a strike if Russia’s sovereignty or independence comes under threat.
Speaking in an interview with state television, Putin also said he hoped the U.S. would avoid taking actions that would increase the risk of nuclear conflict and expressed doubt that the world is on the brink of Armageddon. Nevertheless, when asked if Russia is ready for nuclear war, he said: “From the military-technical viewpoint, we’re prepared.”
Putin, who is all but guaranteed to win a new six-year term in Russia’s presidential election this week, also denied that he had ever considered using a tactical nuclear weapon at any point during his war in Ukraine. He said that weapons of mass destruction would only be used in the event of a threat to “the existence of the Russian state, our sovereignty and independence.”
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He also said that if American soldiers were sent to Russian territory or Ukraine, Moscow would consider their deployment an intervention. But he added that he believed that in the U.S. there are “enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” and that the conflict is therefore not “rushing” towards nuclear catastrophe.
Since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has repeatedly issued warnings about his willingness to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
In a state-of-the-nation address last month, he accused Ukraine’s Western allies of “selecting targets for striking in our territory” and slammed talk of sending NATO troops to Ukraine (he spoke after French President Emmanuel Macron said the possibility shouldn’t be “ruled out”). He said Western leaders shouldn’t forget “we also have the weapons that can strike targets on their territory, and what they are now suggesting and scaring the world with, all that raises the real threat of a nuclear conflict that will mean the destruction of our civilization.”
Putin reiterated the bellicose rhetoric on Wednesday, saying states that “say they had no red lines in relation to Russia… must understand that in Russia there will be no red lines in relation to them either.”
Elsewhere, Putin once again blamed former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the failure of negotiations to end the war in its early months and said that Russia remains ready to hold talks on bringing the conflict to a close. Any such talks, he added, “should be based on reality—and not on cravings after the use of psychotropic drugs.”
Both Ukraine and Russia reported suffering fresh attacks on their countries on Wednesday morning.
Two people were killed and five others were injured in a Russian strike in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, according to a local governor. Russian authorities separately claimed another large drone attack from Ukraine was launched in the early morning, with Moscow’s Defense Ministry claiming to have destroyed 58 drones across six regions. As on Tuesday, two of the drones purportedly targeted oil facilities, with a refinery in the Ryazan region being hit. Another unmanned aerial vehicle was allegedly shot down as it flew towards another refinery close to St. Petersburg.
