Vladimir Putin today warned the West that Russia is technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.
What He Said
‘From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,’ the 71-year-old dictator declared in an interview with state-controlled Rossiya-1 television.
Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not ‘rushing’ up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Putin Warns U.S. today
In unsettling comments, he reminded the state-controlled channel that Russia‘s nuclear doctrine permitted use of nuclear weapons in the event of a perceived threat to national security.
‘(Nuclear) weapons exist in order to use them,’ he declared. ‘We have our own principles.’
He warned that if US troops are deployed in Russia or Ukraine, Putin will view this as American intervention in a war he declared two years ago.
‘(In the United States) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint.
‘Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it [nuclear confrontation]… but we are ready for this,’ he said, before going on to add that Russia’s nuclear triad of land, sea and air threats was ‘much more’ advanced and modern than those touted by America.
His statement is another blunt warning to the West ahead of a presidential vote this week in which he is all but certain to win another six-year term.
