Putin has issued a fresh nuclear warning to NATO, saying any direct attack on Russia or on Kaliningrad would immediately raise the question of using “all the weapons” available to Moscow.
“No one currently has weapons like those possessed by Russia,” the Russian president said, presenting the country’s arsenal as unmatched.
Putin insisted Moscow was not trying to intimidate anyone, saying Russia’s recent messages to NATO were a response to what he described as attempts to intimidate Russia.
He also warned that “every imaginable and unimaginable red line” is being crossed and said there can be no certainty that nuclear weapons will never be used.
“If a gun is hanging on the wall, sooner or later it is supposed to fire,” Putin said.
On Ukraine, Putin again argued that Russia did not start the war, blaming NATO expansion, what he called aggressive nationalism and anti-Russian policies in Ukraine, and military pressure on Russia’s “historical lands.”
He also returned to the collapse of the Soviet Union, accusing its late leadership of naivety and blind trust in the West, while saying Russia must not become “a museum of past greatness.”
Putin said the global situation would eventually improve as Western dominance fades.
