Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West against escalating the war in Ukraine, saying Moscow is prepared to use "all weapons" in its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, if its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad is attacked.
In a speech he delivered at the Valdai Dialogue Club in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said that he "does not plan to attack any European country, but is ready to respond to any Western aggression if necessary," referring to the Russian enclave located between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
His warning comes on the heels of recent NATO military exercises near Kaliningrad, which the alliance described as “defensive exercises to enhance deterrence.”
These exercises raised serious concerns in Moscow, which warned in late September that it would respond if NATO tried to impose an air or sea blockade on the enclave.
Putin said: “The maneuvers in the Baltic Sea, which follow one after another... Then the attempts to detain our ships, all of this is considered an escalation, and then we began to hear statements regarding the Kaliningrad region.”
He added, warning: “If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation, in this case on Kaliningrad and perhaps some other regions, it is natural that the issue of using all the weapons in our country’s arsenal will emerge on the agenda. This is inevitable.”
NATO, several European countries and the United Kingdom accused Russia of waging a "hybrid war against it, including cyberattacks, sabotage and espionage attempts, with the aim of breaking its support for Ukraine."
The Russian war in Ukraine, which Moscow describes as a "special military operation," continues for its fifth year, but Putin shows no intention of slowing down his attack. Rather, he has intensified his strikes on the energy infrastructure in Ukraine and its capital, Kiev, in anticipation of an expected harsh winter.
But recent Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries have led to severe fuel shortages, dispelling the illusion that the repercussions of the conflict are far removed from the lives of ordinary Russian citizens.
Long queues of cars were seen outside gas stations in major cities, while attacks on Russia's largest online retailer increased pressure on an already strained wartime economy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regularly refers to Ukrainian drone strikes deep into Russian territory as “far-reaching sanctions,” aimed at reducing Russia’s revenues and military capabilities and pushing the Kremlin into negotiations.
In his speech Thursday to academics in foreign policy and international affairs, Putin acknowledged that the Ukrainian raids were hurting the Russian economy, saying they had cost Russia 1% of its gross domestic product, and that Ukrainian military maneuvers in the Black Sea had destroyed more than 100 Russian ships.
However, Putin also made it clear that he remains adamant in his position, saying: “In the Black Sea - which is a war zone - we targeted military ships and ships transporting military cargo, and we rarely missed, and throughout this war, Ukraine destroyed more than a hundred of our ships. We started to respond, and now we are being bombarded with appeals from all sides: Enough, stop it.”
He stated: "The same applies to our oil refineries; Ukraine has openly declared that its goal is to harm our economy. Did it succeed? Partially - according to our estimates, we lost about one percent of our GDP. This was done deliberately - these are civilian goals, after all."
“They received the exact opposite response,” Putin added, ignoring the fact that it was Moscow that launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin's admission of the economic losses comes just one day after he told newly elected members of the Duma - the lower house of the Russian parliament, which predictably saw the Putin-supporting United Russia party retain its majority - that the Russian economy was "stable."
The Russian President took the opportunity to criticize Ukraine, mocking, on Wednesday, Kiev's dependence on financial aid from its Western allies.
He warned parliamentarians: “Mistakes, especially now, are completely unacceptable. Unlike some, and we will not point fingers, Russia cannot go around the world humiliating itself by begging for aid.”
He added: “First, because, as I said before, it is humiliating. Secondly, no one will give us anything, and we know that very well.” Third, and most importantly, we don't need it. The Russian financial system and economy are safe,” he continued.
While he has indicated in recent weeks that he has no intention of withdrawing from the war in Ukraine, he has also said that he "prefers to end the conflict through negotiations."
Before the election, Putin said the results would show that “Russians are united around the army and its goals,” although the Levada Center, an independent centre, said so.
An opinion poll conducted in August showed that 59% of Russians support moving to peace talks.
In a further indication that Putin does not intend to slow down the pace of the “special military operation,” budget documents seen by Reuters revealed that Russia plans to spend 17.1 trillion rubles ($205.112 billion) on defense in 2027; This is an amount approximately 27% higher than what was included in the original budget, and represents the highest level of defense spending since the start of the comprehensive invasion of Ukraine.
