On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin forewarned the West that Russia was prepared for nuclear war and that the deployment of American soldiers in Ukraine would be viewed as a major escalation of hostilities.
Speaking only days before an election scheduled for March 15–17, which is sure to give him another six years in office, Putin stated that he did not see the need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and that the possibility of a nuclear war was not “rushing” forward.
When asked if the nation was truly prepared for a nuclear conflict, 71-year-old Putin responded, “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” on Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA.
Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory – or to Ukraine – Russia would treat the move as an intervention.
“(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” said Putin, the ultimate decision maker in the world’s biggest nuclear power.
“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”
Putin’s nuclear warning came alongside another offer for talks on Ukraine as part of a new post-Cold War demarcation of European security. The U.S. says Putin is not ready for serious talks over Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and Putin has warned several times the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine.
