Russian President Putin vows to wipe out any country that dares attack Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed, on Friday, to wipe out any country that dares attack Russia with nuclear weapons from the face of the earth, but he did not rule out, in the end, finding an end to the Ukrainian war.
After his statements about the increasing danger of nuclear war, and his description of the Russian arsenal as a “deterrent factor” in conflicts, the Russian president said that his country may officially consider adding the possibility of a first preventive nuclear strike to disarm an adversary to its military doctrine.
“We’re thinking about this,” he said after a summit in Kyrgyzstan. “If we’re talking about a disarmament strike, maybe we should consider using the approach of our American partners,” citing what he described as US strategies to use high-precision missiles for a preemptive strike.
Putin stressed that “eventually it will be necessary to reach an agreement” to end the conflict in Ukraine, expressing doubts about the “confidence” that Moscow can give to its interlocutors.
Putin said Russia does not have a mandate to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike, unlike the United States, but Russia’s advanced hypersonic weapons would ensure Russia could respond forcefully if attacked.
“Ultimately it will be necessary to reach an agreement,” Putin said on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bishkek.
I have already said that many times that we are ready for these arrangements, we are open, but that forces us to think to know who we are dealing with.
