President Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war

Mr Putin, speaking just days before Russia's March 15-17 election, which the West predicts will see him win and stay in power for another six years, said the nuclear war scenario was not "urgent" and he saw no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“From a military-technical point of view, of course we are ready,” the 71-year-old leader told RIA news agency and Rossiya-1 television when asked whether Russia was really ready for a nuclear war.

Mr Putin said the US understood that if it deployed US troops on Russian territory - or to Ukraine - Russia would see this as an intervention.

“There are enough experts in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint in the United States. So I don’t think that things are rushing towards that (nuclear confrontation) here, but we are ready for it,” said Mr. Putin, the ultimate decision-maker in the world’s largest nuclear power.

Mr Putin’s nuclear warning came alongside another offer of talks on Ukraine as part of a post-Cold War European security demarcation. The US said Mr Putin was not ready for serious talks on Ukraine.

Also according to Reuters, the war in Ukraine has caused the deepest crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and President Putin has repeatedly warned the West of risking triggering nuclear war if it sends troops to Ukraine.

Nuclear war?

In a US election year, the West is struggling to find ways to support Kiev against Russia, which now controls about a fifth of Ukraine's territory and is rearming much faster than the West and Ukraine.

President Putin has sent a series of public nuclear warnings to the US to deter further involvement in Ukraine – a move the Kremlin says would mark a slide into world war.

Washington says it has seen no major changes to Russia's nuclear posture, but Mr Putin's public nuclear warnings have raised concerns in Washington.

Mr. Putin reiterated that the use of nuclear weapons is clearly stated in the Kremlin's nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions for using such weapons: generally in response to an attack using nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia "when the state's survival is threatened."

“Weapons exist to use them. We have our own principles,” said President Putin.

CNN reported last Saturday that the administration of US President Joe Biden was particularly concerned in 2022 that Russia could use tactical or battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

The Russian leader said he never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Negotiations?

President Putin said that Russia is ready for serious negotiations on the Ukraine issue. He said: “Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but these negotiations must be based on reality, not on wishes after using psychotropic drugs.”

Reuters reported last month that Mr Putin's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the fighting had been rejected by the US after contacts between mediators.

CIA Director William Burns warned earlier this week that if the West does not provide enough support to Ukraine, Kiev will lose more territory to Russia.

Mr. Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee that it was in the U.S. interest to support Ukraine so it could be in a stronger position for negotiations.

According to Reuters, President Putin said he does not trust anyone and Russia will need written security guarantees in case of a resolution.

“I don't trust anyone, but we need guarantees and they must be clear and must satisfy us,” Mr. Putin said.