1 of 1 Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech to Russian MPs on February 29, 2024. — Photo: Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Portal Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech to Russian MPs on February 29, 2024. — Photo : Sputnik /Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Portal
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened on Thursday (29) in Ukraine to use nuclear weapons that “can destroy the world”.
In a state of the nation speech in Moscow, Putin said he could use this type of weapon when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sends troops To fight Russia in the war in Ukraine.
Addressing lawmakers and members of the country's elite, Putin said: Western leaders did not understand how dangerous their interference could be in a war that they considered to be about “internal affairs.”.
“(Western nations) need to realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t you realize that?!” said Putin.
The Russian president, who is running for reelection this year, said he still has a “comprehensively modernized nuclear weapons arsenal, the largest in the world”.
“Strategic nuclear forces are in full readiness,” he said, noting that the newgeneration hypersonic nuclear weapons he first spoke of in 2018 were already deployed or were at a stage where development and testing had been completed.
In the speech, one of Putin's toughest since the beginning of the warTwo years ago, the Russian leader also pointed to the outcome of previous Western leaders such as Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany and Napoleon Bonaparte of France invading Russia.
“But now the consequences will be much more tragic,” Putin said. “They think (the war) is a caricature.” The Russian president also said that Western leaders have forgotten what a real war means because, in his opinion, they have not faced the same security challenges as the Russians over the past three decades Russians.
Sweden's entry into NATO
Macron's comments on the conflict in Ukraine led to Russia responding with threats
In his speech, Vladimir Putin also discussed the performance of his troops on the fronts in Ukraine. He said there had been progress “at several points,” without specifying at what points. And he said he would have to reinforce troops on the western border with the European Union after Sweden's entry into NATO was approved.
Despite the nuclear threat, Putin described as “absurd” recent allegations from the West that Russian troops could move beyond Ukraine and attack European countries.
Putin said that Moscow is open to talks on nuclear strategic stability with the United States.
“…On the eve of the US presidential election, they just want to show their citizens and everyone else that they still rule the world,” the Russian leader said.