Vladimir Putin has said the risk of nuclear war is growing, but insisted Russia has “not gone mad” and will not use its nuclear weapons first.
The Russian president insisted that his country would only use weapons of mass destruction in response to the attack.
Speaking at the annual meeting of Russia’s Human Rights Council, he also said the war in Ukraine could be a “protracted process”.
Western officials believe that Putin initially planned for a quick victory.
Russia’s nuclear weapons capability has increased since it invaded Ukraine in February.
Speaking about the possibility of nuclear war via video link from Moscow, Putin warned that “such a threat is growing, it would be wrong to hide it.”
But he stressed that Russia would not “under any circumstances” use first-class weapons, and would not threaten anyone with its nuclear weapons.
“We’re not crazy, we know what nuclear weapons are,” he said, adding: “We’re not going to run around the world spreading this weapon like a razor.”
Putin has also boasted that Russia has the most advanced and sophisticated nuclear arsenal in the world, and has contrasted its nuclear strategy with the United States – which he says locates its nuclear arsenal elsewhere. It has surpassed Russia.
“We don’t have nuclear weapons, including tactical ones, on the soil of other countries, but the Americans do – in Turkey and several other European countries,” he said.
Putin has previously insisted that Russia’s nuclear doctrine allows for only the defensive use of nuclear weapons.
Admitting that his plan to claim victory within days of invading Ukraine had failed, Putin admitted that the war could be a “long process”.
However, he said the results had already been “significant” – for example, the new territories Russia illegally claimed after fraudulent referendums in four Ukrainian regions.
He boasted that the annexation made the Sea of Azov – which borders southeastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia – Russia’s “inland sea”, adding that it was the wish of Russian Tsar Peter the Great. President Putin has previously compared himself to 17th and 18th century rulers.
But – despite declaring the regions of Kherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk as new Russian territories – Moscow does not have full control over any of these regions.
Last month, Russian forces were forced to retreat from the city of Kherson, the only regional capital they had captured since the February offensive.
