Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Europe is “defenseless” and unprepared for a nuclear conflict with Russia, reported The Telegraph.
While the leaders of a number of countries celebrated in France 80 years since the D-Day landings in Normandy, the Russian president intensified the nuclear rhetoric and repeated threats to European countries.
„Europe does not have a developed early warning system. In that sense, they are more or less defenseless,” Putin said at the economic forum in St. Petersburg in a typically belligerent speech.
And while Putin says Russia has no intention of attacking NATO, he has also expressed a willingness to arm Kremlin allies with long-range missiles to strike Europe. “The use (of nuclear weapons) is possible in exceptional cases, when there is a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. I don't think there was such a case. There is no such need”, Putin said.
The Russian leader made his threats to NATO over increasing aid to Ukraine and the lifting of the ban on Kiev attacking Russian territory with Western weapons.
Although economists point out that Russia's GDP growth is mainly based on military spending, Putin has boasted that Western sanctions have failed to harm Russia's economy.
„Positive macroeconomic trends are gaining momentum. This will allow our country to maintain its place among the leading economies in the world”, Putin said.
With this background, expert Thomas Jaeger from the University of Cologne told ksta.de that the things Putin is saying are “complete absurdity”. Just days before the invasion of Ukraine, Putin claimed that his country had no intention of attacking its neighbor. He also claimed that Moscow had no intention of annexing lands in eastern Ukraine. Putin has now denied that Russia is seeking conflict with NATO countries – in the same words he used before the start of the war to deny that Russia was planning an attack on Ukraine. Self-denying absurd claims have never been a problem in the Kremlin's communication strategy, the German expert points out. In addition, Putin also stated that there will be no nuclear threats from Russia. At the same time, Moscow threatens the West all the time. But it's a model that doesn't hurt Putin in Russia – nor does it harm Russia's supporters abroad.