On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated he could deploy conventional missiles within striking range of the United States and its European allies if Ukraine were permitted to strike deeper into Russia using long-range Western weapons.
In his first face-to-face meeting with senior editors of international news agencies since the onset of the war in Ukraine, Putin criticized the West's assumption that Russia would never use nuclear weapons and emphasized that the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine should not be taken lightly.
When questioned about NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg’s calls to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons against Russian territory, Putin differentiated between various missile types but warned that enabling Kyiv to strike Russia with increasingly powerful weapons would escalate the situation, drawing the West closer to war with Russia.
The 71-year-old Kremlin leader indicated that Russia would respond by shooting down Western missiles, specifically mentioning U.S. ATACMS and British and French missile systems. He also suggested that Moscow was considering deploying similar high-technology, long-range missiles close enough to target states that allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory.
“If we see that these countries are being drawn into a war against the Russian Federation, then we reserve the right to act in the same way. In general, this is a path to very serious problems,” Putin said, without specifying the locations for such missile deployments.
President Joe Biden has authorized Kyiv to use some U.S.-supplied weapons on military targets within Russia, although Washington still prohibits Kyiv from striking Russia with ATACMS, which have a range of up to 186 miles (300 km), and other long-range U.S.-supplied weapons.
During a visit to Kyiv on May 3, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told Reuters that Ukraine had the right to use weapons provided by Britain to strike targets within Russia, leaving the decision up to Kyiv.
NUCLEAR RISK
Speaking to journalists for more than three hours at the newly built 81-floor Gazprom tower ahead of the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin discussed various topics, including the war in Gaza and the upcoming U.S. election.
“No one in the United States is interested in Ukraine. They are interested in the greatness of the United States, which is fighting not for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, but for its own greatness.”
Putin stated that Russia did not care who the next U.S. president was but criticized the U.S. court system for being used in a political battle against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“They are burning themselves from the inside, their state, their political system. It is obvious all over the world that the prosecution of Trump, especially in court on charges based on events that happened years ago, without direct proof, is simply using the judicial system in an internal political struggle,” Putin said.
More than two years into the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two, Putin increasingly speaks of the risk of a global conflict as the West grapples with how to respond to the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine.
When asked about the risk of nuclear war, Putin highlighted Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which allows the use of such weapons.
“For some reason, the West believes that Russia will never use it,” Putin said when asked by Reuters about the risk of nuclear escalation over Ukraine during more than three hours of questioning.
“We have a nuclear doctrine, look what it says. If someone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible for us to use all means at our disposal. This should not be taken lightly or superficially.”
Russia’s published 2020 nuclear doctrine outlines the conditions under which a Russian president would consider using a nuclear weapon: broadly as a response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction or to the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.”
NATO ATTACK?
Putin frames the conflict in Ukraine as part of an existential battle with a declining and decadent West, which he claims humiliated Russia after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 by encroaching on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of influence, including Ukraine.
Putin said the West refused to address the causes of the war, which he claimed began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution, portraying it as a U.S.-backed coup.
The West describes the invasion as an imperial-style land grab and has vowed to help Ukraine defeat Russian forces. Ukraine asserts it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is expelled from the areas of Ukraine they control and which Moscow now considers parts of Russia.
Western leaders and Ukraine have downplayed Russia’s warnings about the risk of a broader war involving Russia but have repeatedly warned that Putin might attack a member of NATO, the world’s most powerful military alliance.
Both Putin and Biden have stated that a direct conflict between Russia, the world’s largest nuclear power, and U.S.-led NATO would be a step towards World War Three.
“You should not make Russia out to be the enemy. You’re only hurting yourself with this, you know?” Putin said.
“They thought that Russia wanted to attack NATO. Have you gone completely crazy? That is as thick as this table. Who came up with this? It is just complete nonsense, you know? Total rubbish.”
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