Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up threats of a nuclear attack after he warned Western countries attempting to interfere in Ukraine that they would receive a swift response by Moscow.
In a speech to politicians on Wednesday, Mr Putin said Moscow’s response would be “lightning fast” if any country intervenes in what he calls Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine.
“We have all the tools for this, that no one else can boast of having,” he said, in an apparent reference to recent Russian tests of hypersonic and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that can carry nuclear warheads.
“We won’t boast about it, we’ll use them, if needed. And I want everyone to know that,” he added. “All decisions on this matter have been taken.”
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Last week, Russia announced it carried out a successful test launch of the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM– nicknamed Satan 2 in the West – one of the most destructive missiles in the world.
Continuing his speech in St Petersburg, the Russian leader said Western attempts to “economically strangle Russia” through sanctions had failed, claiming that his troops in Ukraine had stopped “a real danger of… a major conflict that would have unfolded on our territory”.
He said the West wanted to use Ukraine as a platform to attack Russia through the Crimean peninsula – which Moscow annexed in 2014 – and the separatist-held eastern Donbas region.
The chilling remarks came hours after Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, sparking widespread condemnation from Western nations.
Polish and Bulgarian leaders accused Russia of using natural gas to blackmail their countries. The EU echoed those comments and is planning to hold an emergency meeting.
On Tuesday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned the risk of nuclear war was now “considerable” due to Western nations continuing to supply Ukrainian forces with weapons.
Trump has already engineered the great betrayal of Ukraine