Putin escalates the nuclear threat: “The point of no return can arrive unexpectedly”

MoscowVladimir Putin insists on resorting to nuclear rhetoric to threaten the West. After the alarm generated by the letters that Russia sent to NATO threatening the possible use of atomic weapons if European countries blocked the Russian region of Kaliningrad, the Kremlin leader has escalated the tone of his threats. “The point of no return, the moment when nothing can be changed anymore, can arrive unexpectedly,” he said from the Valdai Forum, the stage he uses every year to set Moscow's position on foreign policy.

The Russian president has cloaked his speech in a feigned concern for the risks of nuclear proliferation. “Can we be sure that these weapons will never be used? Of course not. We all know that famous phrase: if at the beginning of the play there is a rifle hanging somewhere on the wall of the stage, sooner or later it will end up firing. We must keep this in mind and prevent it from happening,” he asserted, using a quote from the writer Anton Chekhov.

“At the root of the escalation is arrogance, overconfidence. It is the path to the edge of the abyss,” Putin continued, “and even more so today, when the arsenals of the main world powers contain weapons capable of destroying all forms of life or, at the very least, bringing the Earth to a catastrophic situation.”

The Russian president considers that it is Europe that is preparing for a war with Russia and that, therefore, Moscow feels obliged to consider how to react to it: “We are not intimidating anyone, but if they attack us, we will have to respond.” And among these responses, he pointed out that he will consider resorting to “the entire arsenal” because it is the “competitive” advantage he possesses given the numerical superiority of European armies.

Putin also stated that NATO countries are already waging a war with Russia through Ukraine. This opens the door, from his point of view, to positioning the European arms factories that supply Kyiv as a legitimate target. “We do not intend to say that they must be attacked immediately, but we will assess this threat,” he concluded.