Putin Warns NATO Russia is Not Afraid of a Nuclear War

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded NATO that Russia was technically prepared for nuclear war and that sending soldiers to Ukraine would constitute a substantial escalation of the fight.

Putin, addressing ahead of a March 15-17 election that will almost certainly give him another six years in office, emphasized that the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” and that he saw no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

When asked if Russia was truly prepared for a nuclear war, Putin, 71, responded, “From a military-technical standpoint, we are, of course, ready.”

Putin said the US recognized that if American forces were placed on Russian territory or in Ukraine, Russia would regard the move as an intervention. Moscow claims to have annexed four Ukrainian areas, declaring them totally Russian.

“(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” stated Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”

The Biden administration has stated that it has no intentions to send soldiers to Ukraine, but has emphasized the importance of passing a blocked security aid package that would provide Ukrainian military with the weapons they require to continue the fight, which is now in its third year.

The White House did not immediately react to a request for comment on Putin’s words on Wednesday, but it has previously stated that it has seen no indication that Russia is prepared to deploy nuclear weapons, despite what it considers Putin’s “nuclear saber-rattling”.

In a statement to Reuters, Mykhailo Podolyak, a top Ukrainian presidential official, described Putin’s nuclear warning as propaganda intended to terrify the West.

“Putin, realizing that things are going badly, continues to utilize classic nuclear hyperbole. “With the old Soviet hope – ‘be scared and retreat!'” said Podolyak, who believes such discourse indicates Putin’s fear of losing the battle.

The Ukraine war has produced the most serious crisis in Moscow’s ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has often warned of the dangers of nuclear war, but claims he has never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

In an election year in the United States, the West is debating how to defend Kyiv against Russia, which already occupies about one-fifth of Ukrainian land and is rapidly expanding its military capabilities.

Kyiv claims it is defending itself against an imperial-style conquest war that aims to obliterate its national character. Putin claims he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to protect Russia’s national security from a hostile West.

Putin reiterated that the use of nuclear weapons is outlined in the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine, which specifies the conditions under which such a weapon would be used: broadly, in response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is threatened.”

“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin stated.

Putin’s nuclear warning coincided with another offer for negotiations on Ukraine as part of a new post-Cold War delineation of European security. The United States claims Putin is not prepared for genuine talks about Ukraine.

According to Reuters, the United States rejected Putin’s proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine to halt the fighting after talks with intermediaries.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns stated this week that without additional Western backing, Ukraine would lose more land to Russia, emboldening Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that it was in the US’s best interests to help Kyiv strengthen its position ahead of talks.

Putin stated that Russia will require formal security guarantees in the case of a deal.

“I don’t trust anyone, but we need guarantees, and guarantees must be spelled out, they must be such that we would be satisfied,” Russian President Vladimir Putin stated.

Source: Reuters

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