President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s military to carry out combat drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, ramping up his confrontation with the West just a day before his inauguration for a fifth term.
The army will carry out exercises in southern Russia to “practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” the Defense Ministry said in a Telegram statement on Monday. The drills involving air and naval forces are being held in response to “provocative statements and threats made by certain Western officials,” it said.
Putin has at times brandished the threat of nuclear weapons since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which borders southern Russia. In October, Russia rehearsed its ability to deliver a “massive” retaliatory nuclear strike, including with the launch of ballistic and cruise missiles.
In February, the Russian leader warned the North Atlantic Treaty Organization it risked a nuclear conflict if the alliance were to send troops to Ukraine.
The U.S. and Europe “must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory and that all this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization,” Putin said in his annual state-of-the-nation address.
That threat came after French President Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out sending troops to Ukraine, even as the idea was rebuffed by other NATO allies. Macron on Monday is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping, who despite growing diplomatic and economic ties with Russia, has warned Putin against the use of nuclear weapons.
Putin later played down the threat that Russia and the West were heading toward a nuclear war, telling the state-run RIA Novosti news service on March 13 that there’s never been a need to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine and the thought had never crossed his mind.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday blamed Macron and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron for sparking “an unprecedented spike in tensions,” RIA Novosti reported. Cameron last week said Ukraine had the right to use weapons it receives from Britain to strike Russia.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow later summoned the U.K. and French ambassadors, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel.
The Russian president plans to travel to China for talks with Xi next week. Putin’s inauguration will take place at the Kremlin on Tuesday, extending his almost quarter-century rule over Russia for a further six years after he gained 87% support in a tightly controlled March election in which he faced no serious competition.
Russia has been trying to advance against embattled Ukrainian forces this year, bolstered by an advantage in ammunition. Supplies of munitions and weapons are starting to flow again to Kyiv’s troops after the US approved a long-delayed $61 billion aid package last month.
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