Putin: Russia will use all weapons at its disposal, including nuclear arms, if attacked

AKIPRESS.COM – Russia will be ready to use “all the weapons at its disposal,” including nuclear weapons, in response to an attack by the West, President Vladimir Putin said while speaking at a session of the Valdai Discussion Club.

He made the remarks in response to a warning issued to NATO over a possible attempt to blockade the Kaliningrad Region. In the document, Moscow accused the Alliance of pursuing a “dangerous and reckless course” that carries a “high risk of a direct armed conflict.”

Putin said the warning was “correctly worded.” “If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation — in this case, Kaliningrad is meant, but perhaps some other territories as well — then, of course, the issue of Russia using all the weapons at its disposal will inevitably and immediately be put on the agenda,” he stressed.

Putin noted that, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the population of the alliance’s European member states is 300 million. “That is precisely why we will inevitably have to raise the issue of using all the forces and means at our disposal… We understand that we will be facing an opponent twice our size. This is a major economic potential and a major military potential,” the president said.

According to Putin, Russia therefore intends to use its “competitive advantages” in confronting the West. “Of course, France and the United Kingdom are nuclear powers; we understand this perfectly well and are fully aware of it. But no one has the kinds of weapons that Russia possesses today,” he said.

Putin also warned that the moment “when nothing can be changed anymore” could come quickly and unexpectedly. He referred to statements by Western politicians who insist that preparations should be made for a war with Russia by 2029–30. “It is not us who are setting these timelines; we hear this from the other side, repeatedly. And then there are concrete actions: exercises in the Baltic Sea one after another, followed by attempts to detain our ships and vessels — all of this is escalation,” Putin said.

In his view, “the logic of increasingly harsh reciprocal responses leads to fatal irreversibility,” and therefore nothing can be ruled out. “Today, when the arsenals of the world’s leading powers contain weapons capable of destroying all life or, at the very least, bringing the Earth to a catastrophic state, can we be certain that these weapons will never be used? Of course not… We must bear this in mind and avoid such an outcome,” he concluded.