President Vladimir Putin, when asked about the risks of a war nuclear because of Ukraine, warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use all available means to defend itself if its sovereignty or territorial integrity were threatened.
Putin said the West had repeatedly accused Russia of nuclear saber-rattling, but said this was wrong, noting that it was the United States that used nuclear weapons against Japan in World War II.
Putin stated that Russian nuclear doctrine allows the use of these types of weapons in response to a series of threats: “For some reason, the West believes that Russia will never use them.”
“We have a nuclear doctrine, look what it says. If someone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider that we can use all means at our disposal. This should not be taken lightly, superficially,” he stressed.
Putin besides warned this Wednesday Germany that the use of their weapons by Ukraine to attack targets in Russia would be a “dangerous step” and would destroy relations between Berlin and Moscow.
“Now when they talk about also sending missiles that will attack targets in Russian territory, That, of course, definitively destroys Russian-German relations“said the head of the Kremlin in an interview with the heads of the main international news agencies.
He added that the appearance of German tanks in Ukraine caused a “shock” in Russian society, “which had a very positive attitude towards Germany.”
“That would mean their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation and we reserve the right to do the same,” Putin added.
Putin criticized the current German Government, whom he accused of “not defending the interests of Germany.” And he added: “It is clear that Germany is not totally sovereign, but Germans exist. And you have to think at least a little about their interests.”
Germany has supplied Ukraine with Mars missile launchers, Panzerhaubitze 2000 or Patriot batteries, but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to deliver long-range Taurus missiles to kyiv, with a range of about 500 kilometers, precisely out of fear that they could be used to attack targets within Russia.
This, in the chancellor’s opinion, would be seen in the eyes of the Kremlin as Berlin’s direct participation in the war.
Several NATO countries have defended the need to allow Ukraine to use weapons supplied by the West so that it can attack military targets on Russian territory from where that country is carrying out its offensive against the border city of Kharkiv.
Russia, for its part, has warned against this and denounced that It will imply an “unpredictable” escalation of the conflict.
On the other hand, responding to questions from international media for the first time since his inauguration last month for a fifth term, Putin also said that nothing will change in terms of relations between Russia and the United States regardless of whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November.
“We will work with any president the American people choose,” Putin declared on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “I say this with absolute sincerity, I wouldn’t say that we believe that after the elections something will change on the Russian path in American politics,” he added. “We don’t believe it. We believe that nothing so serious will happen.”
Putin also said that Trump’s conviction in his hush money trial last week was the result of “the use of the judicial system as part of the internal political struggle.”
(With information from AP and EFE)
