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The Russian president delivers a blunt warning to allies as he concedes Ukrainian strikes are having an impact on his country's economy.
Russia n leader Vladimir Putin says he has "competitive advantages'' and will use them. Russia n President Vladimir Putin says he is prepared to use "all weapons" at Moscow's disposal if the West threatens the Russia n exclave of Kaliningrad.
Moscow has previously sent a diplomatic note to NATO warning against military build-up around the Baltic. Vladimir Putin says the world is living through a dangerous moment and has warned the West not to escalate a stand-off over Ukraine by threatening the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which Moscow has made clear it will defend with nuclear weapons if necessary.
Locked in a war in Ukraine, which he said Russia had no choice but to launch to safeguard its own security, Mr Putin said Moscow had no plans to attack any European country and wanted to coexist peacefully. But he reiterated that Russia would resort to all weapons in its arsenal, including nuclear ones, if its most westerly territory — Kaliningrad, which is wedged between Poland and Lithuania — were threatened.
"If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation — in this case, we are referring to Kaliningrad, and perhaps other territories as well — the question of the Russian Federation deploying all the weapons at our country's disposal will, of course, inevitably and immediately be on the agenda," Mr Putin told the Valdai Forum of international Russia experts in Moscow. Mr Putin said Russia realised it would be facing "an enemy twice our size".
"And we will have to make use of our competitive advantages in this struggle. Yes, of course, France and Britain are nuclear powers — we understand that perfectly well and are fully aware of it," he said.
"But no-one else possesses the kind of weapons that Russia has today. That is our competitive advantage.
"Mr Putin's comments followed a diplomatic note which NATO said this week it had received from Russia, warning the Western military alliance it would be ready to resort to nuclear weapons if NATO attempted to cut off Russia's Baltic exclave. Russia's warning highlighted Moscow's urgent concern at what it has presented as a growing NATO threat to Kaliningrad, a heavily militarised Russian territory that is slightly bigger than the US state of Connecticut.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance had responded by emphasising that it was a defensive alliance and that nuclear threats were not helpful. Mr Putin conceded that Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries across Russia had cost Russia 1 per cent of its gross domestic product .
Vladimir Putin Kaliningrad Nuclear Threat Ukraine Conflict
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