Vladimir Putin warns Europe is ‘defenceless’ as tensions with NATO ramp up

Vladimir Putin has upped his inflammatory rhetoric against the West after a major report revealed NATO had taken another dangerous step against Moscow.

After years of all-out war in Ukraine, a nuclear threat from Vladimir Putin is nothing to be surprised about.

The Russian President, alongside a choir of state officials, has repeatedly warned the West of their sizeable nuclear arsenal as global powers rally against their “special military campaign” south of their border.

But this week, Putin claimed that Russia wouldn’t need to use a nuclear weapon to achieve total victory in Ukraine.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin answered questions from Sergei Karaganov, a Russian foreign policy expert who last year called for a preemptive nuclear strike.

Karaganov had suggested holding a “nuclear pistol” to the temple of the West over its ongoing support of Ukraine.

When questioned over the powder-keg tensions between his country and the EU, the Kremlin leader brashly dismissed the bloc’s preparedness in the event nuclear weapons are launched.

He also hinted at future changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, a document outlining the exact conditions under which Russia would authorise use of nuclear weapons.

“This doctrine is a living tool,” he said.

“We are carefully watching what is happening in the world around us and do not exclude making changes to this doctrine. This is also related to the testing of nuclear weapons.”

He warned Russia has “many more [tactical nuclear weapons] than there are on the European continent, even if the United States brings theirs over”.

When questioned over the powder-keg tensions between his country and the EU, the Kremlin leader brashly dismissed the bloc’s preparedness in the event nuclear weapons are launched.

“Europe does not have a developed [early warning system],” he continued.

“In this sense, they are more or less defenceless.”

The comments came after Russia’s own missile detection systems came under attack in recent weeks by Ukrainian forces. This attack was met with criticsm from some analyst who say missile detection systems are crucial in de-escalation. Their removal from either side produces the risk of false alarms and subsequent retaliations.

An anonymous source in Moscow could not confirm if there was damage to the detection system.

The attack marked the deepest attempted drone strikes in Russian territory since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022.

This video grab from a handout footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry on May 21, 2024 shows Russia's missile forces holding a tactical nuclear weapons drills in the southern military district of the country.

Even after dropping regular hints at unleashing Russia’s nuclear might, Putin has simultaneously stated that it is in nobody’s interest for a global war to break out.

He believes the more pressing conflict with the US at present is the war of information.

“In the war of propaganda, it is very difficult to defeat the United States, because they control the world’s media and many European media. The ultimate beneficiary of the biggest European media (outlets) are American financial institutions,” he told Tucker Carlson in their revealing interview earlier this year.

“We can only simply shine the spotlight on our sources of information, but we will not achieve results.”

But the gestures towards war still continue.

Earlier this week, at a meeting with international news agency chiefs in St Petersburg, Putin suggested that Russia might supply advanced conventional long-range weapons to their allies to strike Western targets.

His comments came in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons.

“We are not supplying those weapons yet, but we reserve the right to do so to those states or legal entities which are under certain pressure, including military pressure, from the countries that supply weapons to Ukraine and encourage their use on Russian territory.”

Russian state media has continued to echo the Kremlin’s threats, warning the West that the “Russian bear” can be pushed only so far.

“Wherever we think it is necessary, we’re definitely going to put them. As President Putin made clear, we’ll investigate this question,” Vladimir Solovyov, a veteran TV host, told the BBC this week.

“If you are trying to harm us you have to be pretty sure we have enough opportunities and chances to harm you.

“It’s always a bluff. Until the time when it is not. You can keep thinking that Russia is bluffing and then, one day, there is no more Great Britain to laugh at. Don’t you ever try to push the Russian bear thinking that ‘Oh, it’s a kitten, we can play with it.”

NATO leaders have urged Western governments to prepare themselves for a full-blown war with Russia sometime in the next 20 years.

A series of military exercises has been taking place in northern and eastern Europe involving 90,000 troops with thousands of vehicles.

Just this morning, a report revealed that NATO nations are mapping out “land corridors” to enable US troops and other allied forces to reach the front lines quicker in the event of a broader European ground war with Russia.

The move follows warnings from NATO leaders earlier this year urging Western governments to prepare themselves for a full-blown war with Russia sometime in the next 20 years.

The newly established troop expressways would see American soldiers landing at one of five designated ports.

NATO officials told The Telegraph that they would then be deployed along pre-established routes depending on how a potential Moscow attack would play out.

The new routes would expand on existing arrangements, which have been in place since last year, when the alliance agreed to have 300,000 troops in a state of high readiness during a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Under the current plans, US forces would land at ports in the Netherlands before being transported through Germany and on to Poland by train.

If Russia were to invade a NATO ally, US troops would be rallied to Rotterdam before heading east, according to the outlet.

But Putin has continued the mind-games, rubbishing talk that Russia has “no imperial ambitions” even as his troops continue to flood Ukraine.

At a meeting of foreign news outlets this week, Putin dismissed as the idea that Russia could attack NATO as “bollocks”.

“There is no need to look for some imperial ambitions of ours. There are none,” Putin said.

“There is no need to look for something that is not there,” he said, adding: “Don’t make up an image of Russia as an enemy. You will only harm yourselves.”

“They’ve come up with this idea that Russia wants to attack NATO. Have you lost your mind? Are you as thick as two short planks? Who made this up? It’s nonsense, it’s bollocks.”

Russia denied for months that it was preparing a military offensive in Ukraine before launching the assault in February 2022, accusing Western powers of trying to use their Ukrainian ally to harm Russia.

Russia has also announced the annexation of five Ukrainian regions, and several Russian officials, including Putin himself, have pointed out that these territories previously belonged to the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.