Warning of the Risk of Nuclear War, President Putin Says Russia Could Attack Targets in Western Countries

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Source: TASS via Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin told Western countries on Thursday they risked triggering a nuclear war if they sent troops to fight in Ukraine, warning Moscow had the weapons to attack targets in the West.

Speaking to lawmakers and other members of the country's elite, President Putin repeated his accusation that the West is bent on weakening Russia, saying Western leaders do not understand how dangerous their interference in Russia's internal affairs, which he considers to be internal matters

He prefaced his nuclear warning by referring specifically to an idea, floated by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, of European NATO members sending ground troops to Ukraine, a suggestion quickly rejected by the United States, Germany, Britain, and other countries. other countries.

"(Western countries) must realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don't they understand?!" said President Putin, according to Reuters, February 29.

Speaking ahead of presidential elections on March 15-17, he praised what he said was Russia's highly modern nuclear arsenal and the largest in the world.

"Strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness," he said, noting that the new generation of hypersonic nuclear weapons he first spoke about in 2018 had either been deployed or were at a stage where development and testing were being completed.

President Putin advised Western politicians to recall the fate of people like Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany and Napoleon Bonaparte of France who failed to invade Russia in the past.

"But now the consequences will be much more tragic," said President Putin.

"They think it (the war) is a cartoon," he continued, accusing Western politicians of forgetting the true meaning of war because they do not face the same security challenges that Russia has faced in the past three decades.

On this occasion, President Putin also said that Moscow was open to discussing nuclear strategic stability with the United States, but stated that Washington had no genuine interest in the talks and was more focused on making false claims regarding Moscow's alleged goals.

"Recently there have been more and more unfounded accusations against Russia, for example that we are allegedly going to deploy nuclear weapons in space. Such insinuations are a tactic to draw us into negotiations on their terms, which are only beneficial for Russia and the United States," he said.

"Ahead of the US Presidential election, they just want to show their citizens and everyone that they still rule the world," he said.

It is known that the war in Ukraine has triggered the worst crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. President Putin has previously spoken about the danger of direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.