Putin warns again that Russia ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty is threatened
President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened, issuing another blunt warning to the West just days before an election in which he’s all but certain to secure another six-year term.
The Russian leader has repeatedly talked about his readiness to use nuclear weapons since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The most recent such threat came in his state-of-the-nation address last month, when he warned the West that deepening its involvement in the fighting in Ukraine would risk a nuclear war.
Asked in an interview with Russian state televi- sion released early Wednes- day if he has ever considered using battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Putin responded that there has been no need for that. He also noted that he doesn’t think that the world is heading for a nuclear war, describing U.S. President Joe Biden as a veteran politician who fully understands the possible dangers of esca- lation.
Still, the remarks appeared to be a message to the West that he’s pre- pared to use all means to protect his gains in Ukraine.
Putin said that in line with the country’s secu- rity doctrine, Moscow is ready to use nuclear weap- ons in case of a threat to “the existence of the Rus- sian state, our sovereignty and independence.”
“All that is written in our strategy, we haven’t changed it,” he said.
In an apparent reference to NATO allies that support Kyiv, he also declared that “the nations that say they have no red lines regarding Russia should realize that Russia won’t have any red lines regarding them either.”
Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, recently lamented that the West too often constrains itself with self-imposed “red lines” regarding Russia. He also welcomed a comment by French President Emmanuel Macron that the possibility of Western troops being sent to Ukraine couldn’t be ruled out.
In the wake of recent battlefield gains, Putin argued that Ukraine and its Western allies will eventually have to accept a deal to end the war on Russian terms.
“It shouldn’t be a break for the enemy to rearm, but a serious talk involving the guarantees of security for the Russian Federation,” he said.