President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia took a much less strident tone on the potential for nuclear battle in an interview launched on Wednesday, an obvious try to bolster his home picture as a guarantor of stability earlier than the Russian presidential election this weekend.
In a prolonged interview launched by Russian state tv, Mr. Putin struck a softer tone than in his state-of-the-nation handle final month, when he stated that the West risked inflicting the “destruction of civilization” if it intervened extra straight in Ukraine. Within the interview, Mr. Putin described america as looking for to keep away from such a battle, at the same time as he warned that Russia was ready to make use of nuclear weapons if its “sovereignty and independence” had been threatened.
“I don’t suppose that the whole lot is speeding head-on right here,” Mr. Putin stated when requested whether or not Washington and Moscow had been headed for a showdown. He added that although america was modernizing its nuclear power, “this doesn’t imply, in my opinion, that they’re prepared to begin this nuclear battle tomorrow.”
“If they need it — what can we do? We’re prepared,” Mr. Putin stated.
Within the interview, Mr. Putin additionally denied having thought of utilizing weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine within the fall of 2022, as American intelligence officers have asserted.
The feedback appeared aimed largely on the Russian voters, coming two days earlier than polls open within the presidential election, which runs from Friday to Sunday. Whereas Mr. Putin is all however assured to win a fifth time period, the Kremlin is eager to drive up turnout to current the vote as a stamp of approval for the president and his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
One common pro-Kremlin blogger summed up Mr. Putin’s message this manner: “There received’t be nuclear battle.”
Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, critics of Mr. Putin have more and more taken intention at what he has lengthy introduced as maybe his largest home promoting level: the notion that he introduced safety and stability after Russia’s chaotic Nineties. Russians seem notably nervous in regards to the prospect of nuclear battle; 55 p.c of respondents advised an unbiased pollster in January that they feared a brand new world battle.
However in his dealings with the West, Mr. Putin sees the specter of Russia’s huge nuclear arsenal as one among his simplest devices. He has repeatedly made reference to that arsenal when attempting to discourage Western nations from extra actively supporting Ukraine, most just lately in his Feb. 29 annual handle, when he portrayed the deployment of forces from NATO international locations to Ukraine as a step that might result in nuclear battle.
Within the interview launched on Wednesday, Mr. Putin tried to deal with the Russian public’s fears whereas holding strain on the West. Requested whether or not Russia and america had been taking part in a recreation of hen, Mr. Putin described President Biden as looking for to keep away from a direct battle and stated that Ukraine’s destiny was of far larger significance to Russia than to america.
“I’ve stated that Biden is a consultant of the standard political college,” Mr. Putin stated. “For us, this can be a query of life and loss of life, whereas for them it’s a query of bettering their tactical place.”
American officers have stated that Mr. Putin got here closest to utilizing nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine within the fall of 2022, when Russia’s floor forces had been on the again foot and American intelligence intercepted frequent conversations within the Russian navy about reaching into the nuclear arsenal.
Requested within the interview launched on Wednesday whether or not he had thought of utilizing “tactical” nuclear weapons at that time, Mr. Putin stated that “there was by no means such a necessity.”
“We now have our personal ideas — what do they are saying?” Mr. Putin stated, referring to Russia’s nuclear doctrine. “That we’re prepared to make use of weapons, together with any weapons, together with these you talked about, if we’re speaking in regards to the existence of the Russian state, about doing harm to our sovereignty and independence.”
When requested about his invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Putin stated that Russia would push on and enhance its firepower on the battlefield to scale back its personal casualties.
As he did in final month’s speech, Mr. Putin described his finish objective in Ukraine as a cope with america akin to the “safety ensures” that Russia proposed in 2021, on the eve of the invasion, which might have given Moscow a brand new sphere of affect in Japanese Europe and which the West rejected as unacceptable. He additionally indicated that he noticed Russia’s negotiating place as bettering, given its navy’s advances on the battlefield.
“We’re prepared, however, for a severe dialog,” Mr. Putin stated. “However we have to plainly and clearly perceive for ourselves that this isn’t a pause that the enemy desires to take to rearm, however that this can be a severe dialog with safety ensures for the Russian Federation.”
