Russian President Vladimir Putin warned, Thursday, February 29, NATO member countries of the risks of a nuclear conflict if they sent soldiers to Ukraine, during his annual speech to the Nation delivered to the Russian Parliament, adding that Russia should strengthen itself militarily after the entry of Finland and Sweden into the Transatlantic Alliance.
“We also have weapons capable of hitting targets on your territory,” warned Vladimir Putin, estimating that Western threats create a “real risk” of nuclear conflict.
“Everything that they are inventing now, what they are scaring the world with, all this constitutes a real threat of conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, which means the destruction of civilization,” said the Russian president.
Mentioned at the start of the week by French President Emmanuel Macron, the hypothesis of sending Western troops to Ukraine was ruled out by the United States and several of their European allies.
Putin welcomes Russian successes in Ukraine
More than two years after the launch of his assault on Ukraine, the Russian president spoke from Moscow in order, in particular, to discuss the main strategic lines of Russian policy for the coming years, two weeks before a presidential election which should keep him in the Kremlin until 2030.
During his speech, Vladimir Putin welcomed the advance in Ukraine of his troops, who have achieved several successes in recent weeks against Kiev forces on the defensive and lacking ammunition.
"The military capabilities of the (Russian) armed forces have been multiplied. They are advancing with confidence in several directions" of the front, he declared before the country's political elite.
Read alsoTroops in Ukraine: Emmanuel Macron causes surprise and consternation among the allies
With AFP and Reuters
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