Vladimir Putin issues chilling nuclear war warning in clear threat to the West
Vladimir Putin has today issued a chilling warning about nuclear war - and has sent up strategic bombers over the Baltic Sea.
In a huge show of strength to the West, the 71-year-old dictator stressed "weapons exist in order to use them" as he declared his readiness for conflict.
Speaking during a tense interview with Rossiya-1 television, Mr Putin said: "From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready...Weapons exist in order to use them. We have our own principles."
The world leader told the state-controlled channel that Russia’s nuclear doctrine permitted use of nuclear weapons in the event of a perceived threat to national security. He warned that if US troops are deployed in Russia or Ukraine, Mr 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 added.
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Vladimir Putin gave an interview on state-controlled TV in Russia (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Mr Putin spoke as footage emerged of long-range strategic bombers Tu-22M3 - part of his nuclear strike force - being sent up over the Baltic Sea in NATO’s backyard in a drill. The bombers were accompanied by MiG-31I fighters armed with hypersonic Dagger - or Kinzhal - missiles which can also carry nuclear as well as conventional warheads.
Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters escorted the strike planes. Russia admitted that NATO warplanes buzzed them.
"At certain stages of their flight, the airplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces tracked some fighter jets of foreign states,” said Mr Putin’s defence ministry.
Sweden’s recent accession to NATO has increased the alliance’s hold on the Baltic where Mr Putin also has two key ports in St Petersburg and Kaliningrad. This is likely a reason for the flight over the Baltic in a warning to the West. The Russian planes also flew over the Caspian Sea and the MiG-31I crews performed in-flight refuelling.
Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers and Mig-31I fighters are pictured (Zvezda News/east2west news)"All flights were carried out in strict compliance with international rules of using airspace. Long-range aviation pilots regularly fly over the international waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Baltic seas, and the Pacific Ocean,” said Russian long-range aviation’s commander, Lieutenant-General Sergey Kobylash.
In his TV interview ahead of the Russian presidential election - being held between Friday and Sunday - Mr Putin said British and American missiles caused damage to Russia in the Ukraine war, but did not change the situation on the battlefield.
There had been military personnel from Western countries in Ukraine for a long time, he said. During the war they are present as advisers and mercenaries. Mr Putin was speaking to one of his most ardent TV propagandists Dmitry Kiselyov.
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