Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told the European Parliament on Wednesday that Vladimir Putin is “evidently” preparing for a “long conflict” with the West.
Orpo said that it is important to bolster their security defences as Putin is to send troops to the shared border after joining NATO, he added that Russia is not “invincible.”
During an interview Putin said that Finland’s accession was “an absolutely meaningless step from the point of view of ensuring [Finland’s] own national interests.”
Orpo told MEPs that Russia is “evidently preparing for a long conflict with the West,” but “Russia is not invincible.”
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Discussing Finland joining NATO, Putin vowed to send troops to the border as the alliance continues to expand.
“This is an absolutely meaningless step from the point of view of ensuring their own national interests,” he said.
“We didn’t have troops there [Finnish border], now they will be there. There were no systems of destruction there, now they will appear.”
Putin said that he believes the West are threatening Russia’s sovereignty and warned that nuclear weapons “exist in order to use them.”
In an interview with propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov for Rossiya-1 TV that was released on Wednesday morning the Russian despot said Moscow is “ready” from “a military-technical point of view” in the event of any threat to national security.
Putin again warned of a potential nuclear war with the West, he said, “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready.
“Weapons exist in order to use them.
“We have our own principles.”
He added, “Why do we need to use weapons of mass destruction? There has never been such a need.”
Putin was asked how Russia will respond if the US were to send troops to Ukraine, he said that this would trigger a reaction with his nuclear forces.
Putin added: “[In the US] there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint.
“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it [nuclear confrontation], but we are ready for this.”
But, the Russian leader warned that Russia’s nuclear troops are “constantly, constantly on standby.”
In February Putin’s ally Dmitry Medvedev warned that the Kremlin are ready to release their “entire arsenal” of weapons and nuclear missiles at the US, UK, Germany and Ukraine if Russia loses the war.
Medvedev said, “Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing.
“Towards a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state.
“In Kyiv, Berlin, London, Washington.”
Expert Dr Stephen Hall, from the Henry Jackson Society said that Putin being re-elected will trigger an “escalation in the aggression against Ukraine and the West.”
Dr Hall told The Sun, “There is a possibility that he would use a small nuclear weapon that would take out a block out of Kyiv or Kharkiv.
“For Putin, this is existential. He won’t settle for a frozen conflict, there is going to be Russian antipathy towards Ukraine as long as Putin remains in power.”
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