Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Thursday to use nuclear weapons if Western allies come to Ukraine’s aid, in his annual state of the nation speech.
In the address to Russia’s Federal Assembly, Putin boasted of his country’s nuclear arsenal, including the deployment of new hypersonic missiles. He then referenced a controversial idea stirred up by French President Emmanuel Macron to send troops to Ukraine, which was swiftly rejected by the U.S. and other members of the Western alliance NATO.
But, Putin doubled down on his threats against any NATO action, saying “potential aggressors will face far graver consequences” if they enter Russian territory.
“They must grasp that we also have weapons capable of striking targets on their territory,” Putin said. “Everything they are inventing now, spooking the world with the threat of a conflict involving nuclear weapons, which potentially means the end of civilization — don’t they realize this?”
The Russian leader has threatened to use nuclear weapons throughout the war in Ukraine, part of a campaign to keep them in the minds of Western leaders. He has suspended participation in a nuclear arms limitation treaty with the U.S. and moved tactical nuclear weapons to ally Belarus.
Putin, in his Thursday message, said “strategic nuclear forces are on full combat alert and the ability to use them is assured.”
He also again denied that Russia was preparing to deploy a nuclear weapon in space, which the U.S. said Moscow could potentially launch in a major new threat to global communications and networks.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons if Western allies come to Ukraine's aid, in his annual State of the Nation speech. https://t.co/IAWoyu6KUN pic.twitter.com/E17eZPzmMA
— The Hill (@thehill) March 2, 2024
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