Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday outlined what he said would justify “revenge strikes” against members of NATO or other countries that have intervened in Ukraine.
Addressing lawmakers, Putin said his forces would respond to any country that poses a “strategic threat” to Russia and its operations in Ukraine.
Experts say Russian officials have increased the number of threatening statements to NATO as a strategic tactic in recent days.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described what a NATO ally in Ukraine needs to be acquitted in a military response against the ally. This photo shows Putin giving a speech at a meeting of the advisory council of the Russian parliament in St. Petersburg on April 27, 2022. Getty
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with state media that “NATO will essentially go to war with Russia through a proxy and arm this proxy.”
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview on April 13 that Russia would consider US and NATO vehicles transporting weapons to Ukrainian territory as “legitimate military targets.”
Putin’s latest comments have made his position even clearer.
“I would also like to mention something I talked about at the beginning of the special military operation. “Let me emphasize once again that if anyone intends to intervene from outside and create a strategic threat to Russia that is unacceptable to us, he must know that our retaliatory strikes will be swift,” Putin said.
He added: “We have the tools we need for this, similar to which no one else can claim at the moment. We will not just brag; we will use them if necessary. And I want everyone to know that; we have made all the decisions on this issue. “
The Financial Times notes that Putin’s words about having the “tools we need for this, like no one else can claim at the moment” may be a reference to an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear utility. cargo that Russia recently tested.
Putin also claims that Western structures have influenced Ukrainians to develop a state of “Russophobia”. He said these alleged anti-Russian sentiments, along with the influence of what he said were neo-Nazis, had been transferred to “historic Russian territory” in Crimea and Donbas, which he said forced the Kremlin to take action.
The Russian president also said that sanctions imposed on Russia by other countries had not destroyed the country’s economy. He said that the measures taken by his government had “repulsed, blocked the first crushing blow – as the West believes it is – of illegal sanctions against our country”.
Newsweek asked the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
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