Putin’s nuclear mission
As West piles on pressure over Ukraine and opposition leader’s death, he pilots bomber in show of defiance
VLADIMIR Putin sent an emphatic signal to the West yesterday as the Russian president took the controls of a nuclear bomber.
In a pointed reminder of Moscow’s nuclear capabilities, state TV showed footage of Putin clad in helmet and flightsuit in the cockpit of the Tu-160M supersonic warplane.
Speaking to reporters after the flight from the Volga city of Kazan, the Russian leader praised the new aircraft as ‘excellent’.
He also claimed it was a big improvement on an earlier model.
The stunt came as the White House promised to unveil new sanctions on Iran in the coming days in retaliation for its arms sales that have bolstered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It also threatened a ‘swift’ and ‘severe’ response if Tehran moves forward with selling ballistic missiles to Moscow.
‘We have not seen any confirmation that missiles have actually moved from Iran to Russia,’ said US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, although he added that at the same time, ‘we have no reason to believe that they will not follow through’.
The US is set to announce new sanctions against Russia today – ahead of tomorrow’s second anniversary of the Ukraine invasion
Meanwhile, UK foreign secretary David Cameron urged the whole world to call out the illegality of Putin’s military offensive. Watched by Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Mr Cameron told a closed session of the G20 summit in Brazil that the invasion of Ukraine was completely illegal.
He said Russia must be made to pay for its aggression, while diplomats from the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Norway made similar remarks.
Mr Cameron added: ‘There is no more serious an issue for the world, and it’s the world that’s gathered here, than one country invading another in this completely illegal and unacceptable way. And the whole world should get behind Ukraine, should support Ukraine, and should call out the illegality of what Putin and his cronies have done.’ The UK foreign secretary and other leaders also noted the death of dissident Alexei Navalny in a Russian jail last week – with Lavrov said to have been looking at his phone while they made the comments.
The British government has imposed another 50 sanctions on Moscow’s war machine.
Announcing the measures, Mr Cameron said that Britain would back Kyiv ‘for as long as it takes’.
The UK Foreign Office said the sanctions would target those supplying Russia’s military with munitions such as rocket launch systems, missiles and explosives. The measures also aim at key sources of Kremlin revenue, clamping down on metals, diamonds and the energy trade.
The war has largely ground to a stalemate and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the West to provide more weapons.
Mr Cameron said continued allied economic pressure would mean Putin ‘cannot afford this illegal invasion’ to continue. He added: ‘Putin mistakenly thought that because Russia’s economy is bigger than Ukraine’s, he would gain a quick victory. But the economies of Ukraine’s friends are 25 times bigger than Russia’s.’