Putin says direct Western intervention in Ukraine risks nuclear conflict

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said the West would face the prospect of nuclear conflict if it were to intervene more directly in the war in Ukraine, using an annual address to the nation on Thursday to tone down its threats against Europe and the United States to escalate.

Mr. Putin said that Western countries that are helping Ukraine attack Russian territory, and have discussed the possibility of sending troops from NATO countries to Ukraine, “must ultimately understand” that “all this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons .” weapons, and thus the destruction of civilization.”

“We also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” Putin said. “Don’t they understand this?”

The United States and other Western governments have largely tried to distance themselves from Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, and comments from President Emmanuel Macron of France this week about the possibility of Western troops being sent to Ukraine drew swift rebukes from other Western officials who have ruled. such implementations.

The Kremlin said this week that sending troop contingents from NATO countries to Ukraine would lead to the “inevitability” of direct conflict between Russia and the Western alliance.

“We remember the fate of those who once sent their contingents to the territory of our country,” Putin said, an apparent reference to the invasions of Hitler and Napoleon. “But now the consequences for potential interventionists will be much more tragic.”

Putin’s comments on Thursday came in the opening minutes of his annual state of the nation address, a cornerstone event on the Kremlin calendar in which the president announces his plans and priorities in a televised address to hundreds of officials, lawmakers and politicians. other members of the Russian ruling elite.

This year, the speech took on added significance because of Russia’s presidential election, scheduled for March 15-17, in which Mr. Putin will run for another six-year term. He is confident he will win, but the Kremlin has mounted a concerted publicity campaign ahead of the election, attempting to use it as a stamp of public approval for Putin’s rule, and by extension, his war.

Mr Putin has repeatedly made veiled nuclear threats against the West since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, seeking to leverage Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal to deter Europe and the United States from backing Ukraine.

He seemed to have toned down that rhetoric over the past year. But he backtracked on Thursday, linking his threats to a claim that he was willing to resume arms control negotiations with the United States — but only, he suggested, if Washington was also willing to discuss the war in Ukraine.

“Russia is ready for dialogue with the United States on issues of strategic stability,” Putin said, a reference to arms control talks with Washington that were underway shortly before the Russian invasion.

In an apparent reference to Ukraine, Mr Putin added: “Of course, this should only be done as a whole, including all those aspects that affect the security of our country.”

The White House, in turn, has rejected Putin’s attempts to put the United States at the center of any negotiations over the war in Ukraine. U.S. officials have said the United States has not negotiated on behalf of Ukraine and will not do so.