Vladimir Putin warned the West on Thursday of a “real danger” of nuclear war in the event of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in his address to the nation, an annual high mass where he defined Russia's priorities.
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This new stance on nuclear power was described by Washington as “irresponsible rhetoric.” France, in turn, called on the Kremlin ruler “not to escalate”.
The Russian leader also welcomed his army's advance to the front lines in Ukraine, two weeks before a presidential election that he is unsurprisingly expected to win given the lack of opposition.
In a calm tone and with very regular applause from the audience made up of the Russian elite, he responded to the controversial statements made by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who this week raised the possibility of sending troops from Western countries to Ukraine.
“They (Westerners) talked about the possibility of sending military contingents to Ukraine (…). But the consequences of these interventions would actually be even more tragic,” he said from Gostiny Dvor, a convention center near Red Square in Moscow.
“They must understand that we also have weapons with which we can hit targets on their territory. Everything they are currently inventing not only scares the whole world, but also poses a real threat of conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and thus the destruction of civilization,” Putin continued.
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Despite the controversy that his comments caused even among France's allies, Emmanuel Macron assured on Thursday that his every word on Ukraine was “weighted” and “measured.”
“Multiplied” military capabilities
According to Héloïse Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations, Vladimir Putin's main aim with these new nuclear threats is to dissuade Western public opinion from supporting the supply of more weapons to Ukraine.
“We are in a relatively balanced deterrence relationship and at the moment there are no major signs of a risk of using nuclear weapons,” she told AFP.
In any case, the Russian president seems to be doing better than he was a year ago. The Ukrainian army failed in its counteroffensive launched in the summer of 2023 and is on the defensive, lacking ammunition due to the lack of agreement in Washington and the slowness of European deliveries and facing more Russian soldiers and better weaponry.
The latter managed to capture the fortress town of Avdiivka on the Eastern Front in mid-February and continued their advance in this sector.
The Russian soldiers deployed in Ukraine “will not retreat, will not fail, will not betray,” Mr. Putin promised again at the end of his speech, followed by a ceremonial listening to the Russian anthem.
In his speech, the Kremlin ruler also praised the “flexibility and resilience” of the Russian economy, which has held firm despite a barrage of Western sanctions and turned to Asia and the war effort.
He also attacked the current American authorities, accusing them of wanting to “show that they are running the world as before” and of engaging in “demagoguery” ahead of the United States presidential election in November.
According to Putin, Russia is still “ready for dialogue” with Washington on issues of “strategic stability.”
Presidential program
In his speeches to the nation, Vladimir Putin traditionally takes stock of the past year and defines new strategic directions.
On Thursday, he laid out in particular a program to be implemented by 2030, the year of the end of the next presidential term, which he should win after a unanimous vote from March 15 to 17.
The Russian head of state also, as usual, praised the “traditional values” defended by the Kremlin and ensured that Russia is one of its “bastions” in the face of what is seen as a corrupt West.
“A family with many children must become the norm,” he said, while Russia has been facing serious demographic problems for many years, exacerbated by the attack in Ukraine and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of its citizens abroad.
After a first part of his speech dedicated to the international situation, he repeatedly promised social assistance, especially for veterans and their families, and announced investments in infrastructure, education, digital technology and news, culture and even environmental protection.
His speech came on the eve of the funeral planned in Moscow for his main opponent, anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, who died in prison on February 16 at the age of 47 under unclear circumstances.
Vladimir Putin, who never mentioned the man's name in public, had yet to comment on Thursday about his death, which shocked Western powers.