Putin Issues Ominous Nuclear Warning to U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an ominous nuclear warning to the West, saying that his country is technically ready for a nuclear war.

"From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready. [Our nuclear forces] are constantly in a state of combat readiness," Putin told state-run TV channel Russia-1 and news agency RIA Novosti in an interview on Tuesday.

His remarks come days after he warned during his annual state of the nation address in Moscow that his "strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness." Putin has said since September 2022 that Russia was prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend its "territorial integrity," declaring that "this is not a bluff."

In his interview, Putin said there has so far been no need to use tactical nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine, which he launched in February 2022.

"Apart from [U.S. President Joe] Biden, there are enough other experts in the sphere of Russian-American relations and strategic restraint. So I don't think that everything is going to go head-on here, but we are ready for it," Putin said.

The Russian leader also said the U.S. is developing nuclear forces, "but this does not mean that it is ready to start a nuclear war tomorrow."

Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons "if the question is about the existence of the Russian state," its sovereignty and independence, Putin said. "Everything is written down in our strategy, we haven't changed it."

The idea that a nuclear war could break out amid the conflict in Ukraine has been floated by numerous Russian officials, including Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president and prime minister.

Kremlin propagandists have also routinely warned of a looming world war and strikes by Russia on NATO territory over aid and weapons provided by the Biden administration and members of the military alliance to Kyiv.

Last week, state TV host Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent figures in the Kremlin-backed media, suggested launching nuclear strikes on three members of the NATO military alliance—France, Germany and the United States.

Putin warned during his annual state of the nation address last month that "Russia won't let anyone interfere in its internal affairs."

He appeared to be responding to French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that NATO members could send ground troops to Ukraine. Other NATO allies, including the U.S., ruled out doing so after Macron's suggestion.

Some have raised concerns that a red line for Russia may be Ukraine's attempts to recapture Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Putin illegally annexed in 2014, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to take back.

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