Vladimir Putin threatened the West with the use of nuclear weapons if NATO sends troops to Ukraine – Diario La Página – 2024-03-02 02:00:03

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned during his state of the nation address to NATO on Thursday that the consequences of deploying allied troops to Ukraine would be “tragic.” Putin said Western threats create a “real” risk of nuclear conflict, while he called accusations that Moscow is considering attacking Europe “far-fetched.”

“They have begun to talk about the possibility of sending NATO contingents to Ukraine, but we remember the fate of those who once sent troops to the territory of our country, but now the consequences for possible interventionists will be much more tragic,” he said. Putin in his speech before both houses of the Russian Parliament, referring to the debate opened in Europe by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Putin stressed in his speech, which is held just one day before the funeral for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Western powers must understand that Russia “also has weapons that can hit targets in its territories.” “Everything that they invent at this moment, with which they terrify the world, all of this constitutes a real threat of a conflict in which nuclear weapons are used, which means the destruction of civilization,” said the Russian president.

In turn, he accused the West of forgetting what war is and of provoking “conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and other regions of the world.” «And they continue lying. Now, without any shame, they claim that Russia supposedly intends to attack Europe. But we know well that this is just nonsense,” she said. “It was not Russia that started the war in Donbas, but we will do everything to end it, eradicate Nazism and fulfill the objectives of the special military operation (in Ukraine),” he said.

Putin assured that the West is trying to make the Russian Federation make the same mistake as the Soviet Union involved in an arms race, to which the USSR dedicated 13% of the Gross Domestic Product, when Moscow will allocate 6% to defense in 2024. In this regard, he stressed that this “trick” will not succeed, since Moscow intends to develop the military-technical complex in order to strengthen the industrial, technological and scientific potential of the country.

Putin also described as “unfounded” the United States’ accusations that Russia is deploying nuclear weapons in the cosmos. Although, next, he highlighted that Russian strategic nuclear forces are “in full combat readiness.” “Without a sovereign and strong Russia, a strong world order will not be possible,” he said.