Vladimir Putin warned the West against the “real threat” of nuclear war in the event of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, in his annual address to the nation on Thursday, during which he defined Russia’s priorities.
In hushed tones, to much regular applause from the crowd, he hit back at controversial remarks by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who this week raised the prospect of sending Western troops to Ukraine.
“They (the West) talked about the possibility of sending Western military troops to Ukraine (…) but the consequences of these interventions would be really more tragic,” he declared from Gostiny Dvor, the Congress Palace located near Red Square in Moscow. .
“They must understand that we also have weapons capable of hitting targets on their territory. Whatever they are inventing now, in addition to scaring the whole world, is a real threat of conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and therefore the destruction of civilization,” the Russian president continued. .
“So they don’t understand?” he wondered aloud.
(TagsToTranslate)Vladimir Putin
