President Vladimir Putin has warned the Western countries that Russia is “fully prepared” for a nuclear war, emphasizing that any deployment of United States troops to Ukraine would be regarded as a substantial escalation of the ongoing military operation.
“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war.
In line with the country’s security doctrine, he said on Wednesday that Moscow is ready to use nuclear weapons in case of a threat to “the existence of the Russian state, our sovereignty and independence.”
“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said. “If the United States conducts nuclear tests, Russia might do the same,” he added.
Putin, 71, stated that the US was aware that any deployment of American troops on Russian soil or in Ukraine would be regarded by Russia as “interventionists.”
“(In the US) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” Putin said.
“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.” “From the military-technical viewpoint, we’re prepared.”
Putin has already sent a series of public nuclear warnings to the US aimed at discouraging greater involvement in Ukraine, which would mark a “slide into world war.”
As shortage of Western ammunition bites Ukraine, US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns warned earlier this week that if the West did not provide proper support for Ukraine, Kiev would lose more territory to Russia, which would embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Russia president also said said the country was ready for serious talks on Ukraine.
“Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but they should be based on reality – and not on cravings after the use of psychotropic drugs,” Putin said.
In his state-of-the-nation address last month, he issued the latest cautionary statement, alerting the West that escalating its participation in the conflict in Ukraine could potentially lead to a nuclear war.
The conflict has caused the deepest downfall in Russia’s relation with the West since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
