President Vladimir Putin warned European powers on Tuesday that if they started a war with Russia, Moscow was ready to fight and the defeat of European powers would be so absolute there would be no-one left to negotiate a peace deal.
Almost four years into the war in Ukraine, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War 2, Russia has failed to conquer the country, a much smaller neighbour which has been supported by European powers and the US.
Ukraine and European powers have repeatedly warned if Putin wins the Ukraine war he could attack a Nato member, a claim Putin has repeatedly dismissed as nonsense.
Asked by a reporter about remarks in the Russian media that Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto had cautioned that Europe was preparing a war against Russia, Putin said Russia did not want a war with Europe.
“If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and starts it,” Putin said, it would end so swiftly for Europe that Russia would have no-one left to negotiate with. Putin used the Russian word for “war”.
He also suggested the war in Ukraine was not a full-blown war and Russia was acting in a “surgical” manner which would not be repeated in a direct confrontation with European powers.
PUTIN SAYS EUROPE IS HINDERING TRUMP’S PEACE EFFORTS
Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War.
US officials said more than 1.2-million Russian and Ukrainian men have been killed in the war. Ukraine and Russia do not disclose their losses.
Putin accused European powers of hindering US President Donald Trump’s attempts to end the war in Ukraine by putting forward proposals they knew would be “absolutely unacceptable” to Moscow so they could accuse Russia of not wanting peace.
Putin said European states had locked themselves out of peace talks on Ukraine by cutting off contacts with Russia, adding: “They are on the side of war.”
He also threatened to sever Ukraine’s access to the sea in response to drone attacks on tankers of Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.
Reuters
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