Putin says anyone that attacks Russia with nukes will be wiped out
Putin says any country that attacks Russia with nukes will be wiped off the face of the earth by his advanced hypersonic weapons
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Vladimir Putin vowed on Friday that any country that dared attack Russia with nuclear weapons would be wiped from the face of the earth.
The Russian president said Russia had no mandate to launch a preventative first nuclear strike, unlike the United States, but that Russia’s advanced hypersonic weapons would ensure Russia could respond forcefully if it ever came under attack.
His comments came during a press conference this afternoon following a meeting of regional leaders in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.
Putin also told reporters that a deal would ultimately need to be struck to end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, claiming the Kremlin was open to reaching an agreement, but declared that trust with Western and Ukrainian powers was ‘almost zero’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference following the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, December 9, 2022
Putin spoke at length with reporters in Bishkek in today’s press conference, covering a range of subjects regarding the war in Ukraine.
Addressing the media following a meeting with leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union – consisting of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia – Putin said Russia wanted to find a peaceful solution in Ukraine, but was betrayed by the breakdown of the Minsk agreements.
The Kremlin chief said Germany and France – which brokered ceasefire agreements in the Belarusian capital Minsk between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 – had betrayed Russia and were now pumping Ukraine with weapons.
In an interview published in Germany’s Zeit magazine on Wednesday, former German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the Minsk agreements were drawn up merely in an attempt to ‘give Ukraine time’ to build up its defences in the face of Russian aggression – comments which Putin claimed have ‘disappointed’ him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (L) shake hands during their meeting on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union’s (EAEU) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 09 December 2022
Putin also touched upon yesterday’s high-profile prisoner swap between Washington and Moscow, saying more U.S.-Russian prisoner exchanges are possible moving forward after yesterday’s event in the United Arab Emirates proceeded without issue.
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, widely known as the Merchant of Death, was swapped on Thursday for WNBA star and two-time Olympian Brittney Griner.
Asked whether other prisoners could be swapped, Putin replied that ‘everything is possible,’ noting that ‘compromises were found’ to clear Thursday’s exchange of Griner for Bout.
‘We aren’t refusing to continue this work in the future,’ he added.
Despite negotiating the swap for Griner, the most high-profile American jailed abroad, the U.S. failed to win freedom for another American, corporate security exec and former marine Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018.
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