Putin says Russia is ready for nuclear war as the Russian elections approach

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a wide-ranging interview to the Russian press just days before the presidential election, which will see Putin elected for another six years in power – without a miraculous change in the immediate course of Russian politics.

In an interview with pro-Kremlin media published on Tuesday, Putin presented his vision of relations with the West, war and peace. Here are five comments he made ahead of the March 15-17 vote.

Putin was keen once again to point out that Russia is ready for a nuclear war at the technical and military levels.

“From a military-technical point of view, we are of course ready… (and) in a state of constant combat readiness,” Putin said in an interview with Russia-1 news channel and RIA Novosti news agency published on Tuesday. .

Putin warned that the possibility of nuclear war was not a possibility in the near term, and calmer minds would likely prevail to prevent a “rush” toward such a scenario. However, Putin said that Russia would be prepared to conduct nuclear tests, if the United States did so.

Russia-1 journalist Dmitry Kiselev asked Putin about the “price” Russia was willing to pay for the “challenge” it faces during its “special military operation” in Ukraine. It is estimated that the war cost Russia at least 315,000 soldiers killed and wounded during the two years of war in Ukraine. It does not publish such figures itself.

In his interview on Tuesday, excerpts of which were widely published by RIA Novosti, Putin veiledly acknowledged the humanitarian sacrifices in the war, but said Russia must protect its “citizens” in Ukraine, specifically in the four regions that Russia has said it claims. . It was annexed in September 2022.

“Look, the life of every human being is priceless, every individual. Losing a loved one to a family, to any family, is a great sorrow… (But) if we abandon these people today, our losses may be greater tomorrow.” Many times, our children will not have a future, because we will feel insecure, and we will become a third or fourth class country, no one will take us into consideration, if we cannot protect ourselves. “The consequences could be serious and disastrous for the Russian state.”

Russia reiterated its position that it is ready to hold peace talks with Ukraine but that these talks must be based on reality – namely Russia's perception that the areas it annexed in Ukraine are now part of the Russian Federation – and that it wants security guarantees of a NATO victory. Do not expand to include Ukraine.

“Are we ready for negotiations? Yes, we are ready,” Putin told Rossiya-1 Kiselev, before correcting the statement: “However (we) are only ready for negotiations that are not based on some 'desires and dreams' after the use of psychotropic substances.” He added: “Drugs, but based on the facts that emerged on the ground, as they say in such cases.”

Military analysts say Russia and Ukraine are far from peace negotiations while the war is still in an active, “hot” phase, although Russia appears keen to show its willingness to talk, especially as Ukraine struggles on the battlefield amid shortages of personnel and ammunition.

“Now, negotiating just to run out of ammunition is ridiculous on our part,” Putin said. He added: “But we are ready to have a serious conversation, and we want to resolve all conflicts, especially this conflict, by peaceful means.”

Putin said that for Russia to enter into meaningful peace talks, Russia must receive “security guarantees” — likely about NATO not expanding to include Ukraine. Russia says it has been given guarantees that NATO will not expand eastward into Eastern Europe, a long-standing concern. NATO strongly denies reaching such an agreement at all.

Putin raised the topic again in the interview on Tuesday, telling the broadcaster, “We were promised everything several times. They promised us not to expand NATO to the east, and then we see them on our borders.” .

“I don't want to say this, but I don't trust anyone. We need guarantees. The guarantees must be made clear, and they must be ones that suit us and that we believe in… Now it may be too early for us to do that.” “We're talking publicly about what this could be, but we certainly won't buy into any empty promises.”

Early in the war, there was a feeling that there was room to maneuver on the thorny issue of NATO membership, with the idea of ​​giving security guarantees to Ukraine rather than a future place in the Western military alliance. But positions have hardened since the failed early peace talks, with NATO saying Ukraine might join the bloc in the future.

During the war, and indeed before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there was much talk of “red lines” by both sides. Although the boundaries of these ideological boundaries have changed (for example, Ukraine's allies initially said they would not supply tanks or long-range missiles to Kiev, but some of them are now doing so), there were some “red lines” that seemed like a move as well. . far for both sides.

The last issue is the possibility of NATO countries sending ground forces to Ukraine, a possibility raised by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said that “there are no limits” to Paris’ support for Ukraine, refusing to rule out sending ground forces to Ukraine. nation.

Moscow responded angrily to these statements, saying they would lead to an “inevitable” direct conflict between NATO and Russia. Other NATO members were quick to distance themselves from the comments as well, saying sending ground troops was out of the question.

Putin said in his last interview that countries that say they have no red lines in relation to Russia “must understand that in Russia there will be no red lines in relation to these countries either.”

He added: “Basically, based on the results that we see today of what is happening on the battlefield, we are dealing with the tasks that we have set for ourselves. As for the countries that say that they do not have “red lines” with regard to Russia, they must understand.” And that in Russia there will be no “red lines” in relation to these countries either.