Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Friday to wipe any country that dares to attack Russia with nuclear weapons off the face of the earth, but did not rule out eventually finding an end to the Ukrainian war.
After his statements on the growing danger of nuclear war and his description of Russia’s arsenal as a “deterrent factor” in conflicts, the Russian president said his country could officially consider adding the possibility of a preemptive nuclear first strike to to disarm an opponent to his military doctrine.
“We’re thinking about it,” he said after a summit in Kyrgyzstan. “If we’re talking about a disarmament strike, perhaps we should consider using the approach of our American partners,” citing what he described as US strategies to use high-precision missiles for a preemptive strike.
Putin said Russia does not have a mandate to launch a preemptive nuclear strike, unlike the United States, but Russia’s advanced hypersonic weapons would ensure Russia would strike back strongly if attacked.
Putin stressed that “in the end it will be necessary to reach an agreement” to end the conflict in Ukraine, expressing doubts about the “confidence” that Moscow can place in its interlocutors.
“Eventually it will be necessary to reach an agreement,” Putin said on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bishkek.
I have already said many times that we are ready for these agreements, we are open, but this forces us to think about who we are dealing with.
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