PUTIN WARNS OF ‘REAL’ NUCLEAR WAR RISK

Thu 28 February 2024:

The Russian leader has warned the West of “tragic consequences” for any country that dared to send troops to Kyiv. His comments appeared to be a response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s refusal earlier this week to rule out sending troops to Ukraine, which drew rejection from leaders in Europe.

“They have announced the possibility of sending Western military contingents to Ukraine … The consequences for possible interventionists will be much more tragic,” Putin said in his annual address to the nation.

“They should eventually realise that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. Everything that the West comes up with creates the real threat of a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and thus the destruction of civilisation,” Putin added.

The Russian leader says he is confident that Russia will become “one of the four largest economies in the world in the near future”.

“The growth of the Russian economy should be converted into an increase in the income of the population,” Putin added.

According to the president, the monthly minimum wage should almost double by 2030 to 35,000 roubles ($384).

Here are the key foreign policy points made by Putin

Putin has finished his annual State of the Nation address. Here are some key takeaways from his speech:

Warning to the West

“They have announced the possibility of sending Western military contingents to Ukraine … The consequences for possible interventionists will be much more tragic.”
“They should eventually realise that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. Everything that the West comes up with creates the real threat of a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and thus the destruction of civilisation.”
Western countries do not just want to restrain the development of the Russian Federation: “Instead of Russia, they need a dependent, fading, dying space where they can do whatever they want.”
Russia will need to strengthen its western military district now that Sweden and Finland have joined NATO. Finland has a long land border with northwest Russia.
Anyone considering invading Russia should remember the fate of those who previously attempted it. “But now the consequences for possible interventionists will be much more tragic.”

Russia’s war on Ukraine

“Our units firmly hold the initiative. They are confidently advancing in a number of operational directions and liberating more and more new territories.”
“Our armed forces have gained enormous combat experience … The combat capabilities of the armed forces have increased many times over.”

On dialogue with the US

The United States is offering Russia a dialogue on strategic stability while attempting to inflict “strategic defeat on the battlefield”; this is hypocritical.
Allegations that Moscow plans to place nuclear weapons in space are unfounded: This “is a ploy only to drag us into negotiations on its own terms, which are beneficial exclusively to the United States”.

The arms race

Western countries are trying to drag Russia into an arms race – “to repeat the trick that they succeeded in the 1980s with the Soviet Union”.
Therefore, it is important to “allocate resources as rationally as possible and build an effective economy for the armed forces”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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