“I don’t trust anyone”
Putin sees Russia ready for nuclear war “from a technical point of view.”
March 13, 2024, 10:29 a.m
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The Kremlin repeatedly threatens to use nuclear weapons. President Putin is now waving the sword of Damocles again and declaring his country is ready for nuclear war in an interview. However, the deployment is unnecessary in Ukraine. Another nuclear power, however, could trigger an arms race, he says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has again threatened the West with the potential use of nuclear weapons and announced troop redeployments to the Finnish border. In an interview with the state TV channel Rossiya-1 and the RIA news agency, he said that Russia was ready for a nuclear war “from a military-technical point of view.” Weapons existed to be used. If Russia’s statehood, sovereignty or independence were in danger, the country would be prepared to use nuclear weapons, Putin said.
However, he does not think that we are rushing towards a nuclear confrontation. With regard to Ukraine, which Russia invaded a good two years ago, Putin said that there had never been such a need for the use of nuclear weapons there. He expressed confidence that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine.
Putin accuses the USA of plans to resume nuclear weapons tests and threatens countermeasures. In such a case, Russia would also consider starting new nuclear weapons tests, said the Kremlin chief. According to him, the USA is currently in the process of renewing its nuclear forces. This does not mean that they are ready to start a nuclear war, but there are efforts in certain circles in Washington to not only explore the possibilities of the new warheads on the computer, but to check them in real tests. “We know about it. And we’ll take a look,” he said. He did not provide any evidence to support his claims about the US plans.
Putin again sharply criticized Finland’s accession to NATO in the interview conducted a few days before the Russian presidential election. This is “an absolutely senseless step” in terms of protecting one’s own national interests. Russia has never stationed troops on the Finnish border. “Now they will be there. There were no destruction systems there. Now they will appear there.”
Finland joined NATO last year, and Sweden recently joined the Western defense alliance. The two northern European countries decided to join after decades of military neutrality after Russia began its war of aggression against Ukraine. The northern expansion brought the NATO border closer to Russia, which Moscow sees as a threat.
Russia reportedly ready to negotiate
Putin said Russia was ready “for negotiations on Ukraine. But they should be based on reality – and not desires to take psychotropic drugs.” If an agreement were reached, Russia would insist on written security guarantees. “I don’t trust anyone. But we need guarantees, and guarantees have to be spelled out, they have to be such that we are satisfied.” However, Moscow has never seriously discussed negotiations, but has clearly set its sights on a military victory because it considers Ukraine to be significantly inferior militarily.
Putin has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian leadership of abusing drugs. He did not provide any evidence for this. So far, there have been no serious signals of a promising rapprochement between the warring parties. The war continues to rage with undiminished severity. Russia controls almost a fifth of Ukraine’s territory and is rearming much faster than the West and Ukraine. Kiev has repeatedly appealed to its supporters to supply more weapons, otherwise there would be a risk of defeat against Russia.
On Tuesday, Ukraine launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Russian territory, which continued on Wednesday. There were also reports of fighting on Russia’s western border with armed groups that were advancing from Ukraine and said they were made up of anti-Kremlin Russians. Putin said he was convinced that the attacks were aimed primarily at disrupting the Russian presidential election. Voting is scheduled from Friday to Sunday. Putin’s re-election is considered a foregone conclusion.