Putin: We will use nuclear bombs if Nato enters war

Russian president uses address to warn of ‘destruction of civilisation’ against Western troops

VLADIMIR PUTIN has threatened to strike Nato countries with nuclear weapons if the alliance sends troops to Ukraine.

Russia’s president said soldiers being deployed to Kyiv could provoke nuclear war and the “destruction of civilisation”.

Addressing the Kremlin in his annual state of the nation speech, Putin also boasted that Russian troops were advancing “in a number of areas” across the front line in Ukraine as Kyiv runs low on shells and critical equipment.

His nuclear threats come after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said he would not rule out Nato putting boots on the ground, sparking controversy and division in the alliance.

Mr Macron had said Nato should do “everything needed so Russia cannot win the war”.

Putin used his speech, weeks before the Russian presidential election, to tell Kyiv’s allies that Russian “strategic nuclear forces” are “in a state of full readiness for guaranteed use”.

“They should eventually realise that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” he said. “Everything that the West comes up with creates the real threat of a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and thus the destruction of civilisation.”

Putin has made nuclear threats in the past, but has cooled his rhetoric in recent months. After his speech, he was accused of “nuclear sabre-rattling” in a bid to discourage Ukraine’s allies from deepening their involvement in the war.

Russia has made a number of key gains in the war, taking the key city of Avdiivka earlier this month.

Its troops are recently thought to have entered the village of Robotyne in the south – one of a handful of hard-won gains from Ukraine’s s counter-offensive last summer.

Tobias Ellwood, a senior MP who sits on the defence select committee, told

The Telegraph: “Putin’s latest nuclear sabre-rattling is an attempt to leverage visible discord within the West about how support for Ukraine progresses.

“We should not be spooked by Moscow and remain totally committed to pushing Russian forces out of Ukraine.”

Prof Andrew Futter, who specialises in global nuclear politics, said Putin’s comments were likely part of an “ongoing strategy” to drain Western support for Kyiv by issuing “vague nuclear threats”.

It was clearly a warning shot to Mr Macron and may be linked to inaction in the US Congress, where Joe Biden has struggled to force through a $60billion (£47.6billion) aid package for Ukraine, he added.

“Given the implications, nuclear rhetoric and threats have to be taken seriously, but this isn’t the first time that this has happened over the past two years,” Prof Rutter said.

Putin’s speech comes after leaked Russian military files showed his forces had rehearsed using tactical nuclear weapons against major world powers – including China, an ally.

The classified papers, first reported by the Financial Times, showed the criteria for a nuclear response is lower than it has ever publicly admitted.

Dr Laura Considine, who teaches international relations at Leeds University, said it was “fundamentally unknowable” if Putin would deploy nuclear weapons in response to Nato troops in Ukraine, but warned the threat should be taken seriously.

“I think this is within a wider context of nuclear signalling as a means of trying to influence decision-making of others, particularly Western and Nato action,” she said.

“It’s worth thinking about the specific purpose of these instances of nuclear threats. This one seems to be linked particularly to the idea that President Macron suggested of Nato troops on the ground in Ukraine.”

Elsewhere in Putin’s speech yesterday, he claimed Nato was attempting to expand eastwards and that Russia must not repeat its mistakes of the Cold War.