Russia: Putin threatens nuclear weapons capable of “destroying civilization” after Macron’s idea to send troops to Ukraine | International

Russia: Putin threatens nuclear weapons capable of “destroying civilization” after Macron’s idea to send troops to Ukraine |  International

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Thursday with a nuclear option if the West supports Ukraine with the military. “Russia’s opponents must remember that we have weapons capable of hitting targets on their territory and that what they propose scares the whole world. “All this threatens a conflict with nuclear weapons and, therefore, the destruction of civilization,” the Russian president warned in his annual speech before the Russian parliament, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial proposal to support Kiev with the West. troops. Although Paris later clarified that these units would not enter combat and would only train Ukrainian soldiers, the idea sparked public debate in several Western countries.

“We remember the fate of those who once sent their contingents to our territory, but the consequences for the interventionists will now be much more tragic,” Putin warned in front of the Federal Assembly, in an auditorium where the entire elite of the Kremlin: from the cabinet of ministers to the deputies of the two Russian houses, the State Duma and the Federation Council.

It is not the first time in these two years of war that Putin has threatened to go all the way and use his nuclear capability if the West helps Kiev, although so far he has not gone beyond words. “When faced with a threat to the territorial integrity of our country, we will use all means at our disposal. [incluidos los nucleares] protect Russia and our people; “This is not a bluff,” the president had already said in September 2022, when Russia annexed on paper four regions of Ukraine that Kiev disputes on the ground with Western weapons.

Putin reiterated that Russia has not attacked anyone and that its invasion of Ukraine is “a special military operation” even as it entered its third year of bloodshed on Saturday. Likewise, he claims that Russia is not an aggressor, but rather a victim of an alleged Western attack.

“The West has caused conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and other regions of the world and continues to lie. Now, without any shame, he claims that Russia supposedly intends to attack Europe. You and I know they talk nonsense. It is they who choose the targets to attack in our territory and choose the most effective means of destruction. Now they are starting to talk about sending troops to Ukraine,” Putin said. With that phrase he was also referring to Ukrainian attacks against military targets on Russian territory, from the war industry and fuel depots to intelligence planes monitoring the front from hundreds of kilometers away.

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People pass in front of a screen with Vladimir Putin’s speech this Thursday in Moscow. Dmitry Serebrjakov (AP/LaPresse)

Russia, forced to “rationalize” war expenses

While the Russian president is jubilant in ensuring that sanctions have not crippled Russia, he acknowledged in his speech that his country must look at ruble-for-ruble war spending, strained to the max with a war with no clear horizon. “The plans are big, as are the expenses,” Putin complained to parliamentarians.

“The West is trying to drag us into an arms race. “In this way they will wear us out and repeat the ploy with which they managed to put an end to the Soviet Union in the 1980s,” said the Russian president, recalling that military spending reached 13% of the Soviet gross domestic product (GDP). at that time. “Therefore, our task is to focus the military-industrial complex in such a way as to increase the scientific, technological and industrial potential of the country. We must distribute resources as rationally as possible and establish an efficient budget of the armed forces”, underlined Putin, whose budgets for this year foresee a theoretical military expenditure equal to 6% of GDP.

The Russian leader denied American accusations that Moscow intends to deploy anti-satellite weapons in space: “It’s a lie, it’s a ploy to drag us into negotiations on terms advantageous only for the United States,” the Russian leader said. he said the State explaining why negotiations with the White House to reactivate the treaties to avoid a military escalation have been interrupted.

“The United States proposes that Russia engage in a dialogue on strategic stability seeking to inflict – quoting the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell – a “strategic defeat on the battlefield”. This is hypocritical,” said Putin, who called for an agreement that would protect his interests. “If you want to discuss issues of security and stability that are important to the entire planet, then you should do it in one package“Putin underlined.

The president also took stock of the cutting-edge weapons with which he threatened the West in 2018 in that same scenario, in his state of the nation address. “The Kinzhal hypersonic missile is used with great effectiveness to attack particularly important targets of our special military operation [la ofensiva sobre Ucrania]”Putin spoke about a missile that has Western parts and hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. “And the first Sarmat heavy ballistic missiles have also been delivered. We will soon show them in operational areas,” he added. As for powered weapons from nuclear engines capable of infinite movement, the Burevestnik missile and the Poseidon underwater drone, “their tests are nearing completion,” he noted.

Putin on this occasion did not announce new weapons, although he assured that his scientists were “working on promising projects”. However, he issued another warning to NATO forces: “The war has given Russia enormous military experience. New weapons, new tactics, we see where the problems are and we work tirelessly on them, front and rear.”

Putin expressed confidence that he will continue the war in Ukraine until all of his goals are achieved. “We didn’t start the war in Donbas [el conflicto desatado en el este de Ucrania entre 2014 y 2015]“But, as I have said more than once, we will do everything to put an end to all this,” said Putin, who ten years ago called the illegal annexation of Crimea and military support for Donetsk and Lugansk “the Russian spring “.

But for the Kremlin all fronts are expanding. Putin has announced that he will deploy new troops on the border with Finland, a new member of NATO, while looking cautiously eastwards towards China. “It is obvious that in the future it will be necessary to work on a new equal and indivisible security framework in Eurasia. “We are ready for a substantive dialogue on this issue with all relevant countries and platforms,” ​​the president said in a friendly tone towards Beijing.

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, before the Federal Assembly this Thursday in Moscow.Alexander Zemlianichenko (AP/LaPresse)

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