At the Valdai Forum, Putin repeated false claims about the war and threatened to use nuclear weapons
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, during his address at a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club, delivered a speech that consisted entirely of his usual lies, threats, and propaganda-driven falsehoods.
The “bunker man” once again justified Russian aggression, claiming that Russia allegedly “did not start the war,” but that Ukraine wanted to set up concentration camps in Donbas and was burning and bombing Russian people from the air.
In his speech, he once again blamed the West and NATO, claiming that Russia was forced to “defend itself with arms in hand.” Putin called for all countries to avoid using nuclear weapons, comparing them to a prop gun in a theater that is bound to go off if it hangs on the wall, but said that Russia does not threaten anyone with its nuclear arsenal. And immediately he began to issue threats:
“If it comes to a direct attack on Russia, on Kaliningrad, the question of using all the weapons at our disposal will immediately arise. No one else currently possesses the kind of destructive capabilities that the Russian Federation has. They were waiting for this response from us; now they’ll seize on it and exploit it, running around with the claim that Russia is threatening with nuclear weapons. We are not threatening anyone, and we do not intend to attack anyone—neither in 2029, nor in 2030, nor in 2050—but if we face aggression, we will be forced to respond.”
Furthermore, the dictator—whose army destroyed all Ukrainian oil refineries in 2022 and the energy sector in 2023—lies when he claims that Russia has never been the first to attack civilian infrastructure, and that its army—which shoots civilians and prisoners of war—supposedly adheres to all laws and customs of war.
Source: Astra.
The Russian Federation—an aggressor state—warned NATO in a diplomatic note that it is prepared to use its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, if Alliance countries attempt to isolate the Kaliningrad region from the rest of Russia’s territory.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev stated that Europe should reconsider the balance of military, economic, and diplomatic tools and prioritize diplomacy in its relations with Russia. According to him, further escalation could lead to the risk of a Russian nuclear strike.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the North Atlantic Alliance does not see an immediate threat to its territory and regards nuclear blackmail by Russia as an attempt to divert attention from its own defeats in Ukraine.
