(Reuters) – Russia warned on Wednesday that the war in Ukraine could spiral out of control and expand geographically due to reckless actions by one or two member states of the NATO military alliance.
In a response to Reuters, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow believes the West is walking “on the edge of the abyss” and pushing the world to the brink also with its actions over Ukraine.
Zakharova also advised the West to give up the idea of strategically defeating Russia.
Putin praises Russian nuclear weapons as ‘more advanced’ than American and speaks of Macron’s ‘grudge’
In an interview with state TV channel RIA, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (13) that Russia’s nuclear “triad”, i.e. the three ways of launching nuclear weapons, by land, sea and air, is “much more” advanced and modern than that of the United States, indicating that it could test its arsenal if threatened. Putin also said that sending NATO troops to Ukraine would “change nothing” in the conflict.
“Only we and the Americans have these triads. We have come a long way in Russia and our nuclear triad is more modern than any other,” Putin said.
The United States “is developing its components, so are we. In my opinion, this does not mean that they want to start a nuclear war, but if they do, we are ready,” he added.
Putin once again denied that he was thinking of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, despite threats made in the past.
“Why should we use means of mass destruction? There has never been such a need,” he said, before clarifying that Russian military doctrine provides for the use of this type of weapon only if Russia’s existence is threatened or in the event of “an attack on our sovereignty and independence”.
The Russian president also reacted for the first time to statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron, who on February 26 said he “wouldn’t rule out” sending troops from Western countries to Ukraine. “I am sure that this will not change the situation at the front. The supply of weapons won’t change anything either,” said Putin.
Wagner Group
He also spoke of the “rancor” of the French head of state. According to him, Paris had to face competition from the Wagner Group, which since the mid-2010s has mobilized fighters in several African countries on behalf of local governments, surpassing the traditional French regional power.
But for Putin, these are purely economic issues. “We haven’t imposed ourselves in Africa. We didn’t expel France, that’s another problem. It’s the famous Wagner paramilitary group, which carried out a series of economic projects in Syria and then moved on to other African countries. The Defense Ministry supported it, but only because it was a Russian group, nothing more,” said Putin.
For the Russian president, “African leaders from some countries made deals with Russian economic operators” because they no longer wanted to “work in certain areas with the French,” he said.
“I don’t understand why people can be angry with our country if an independent state wants to strengthen relations with partners from other countries, especially Russia,” Putin said. During the interview, he also spoke about other issues. He denied that Russia influenced the US elections and that it helped North Korea develop its weapons program. The Russian president also criticized the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. According to him, “Russia didn’t have troops on the Finnish border, but now it will”.
Macron travels to Germany
Despite the failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, Russia has still not managed to defeat Ukraine two years after the war began on February 24, 2022.
But Western aid has dwindled, and there are doubts about how long the Ukrainian army will be able to hold the front line. For the West, a Russian military victory in Ukraine would only fuel its territorial ambitions in Europe.
In this context, Macron also called on the allies “not to be cowards”, stressing that Paris’ support for Kiev “must have no limits”. The statement sparked disagreements with countries like Germany.
This Friday, Macron will travel to Berlin for a summit between Germany, France and Poland, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced.
This will be the first meeting between the French head of state and Olaf Scholz since the end of February, when the president criticized Germany, saying that the country was “hesitant” to hand over certain heavy weapons to Kiev.
A few days later, he called on his allies to “live up to history and the courage it implies”. The French president’s statement did not please Berlin, but the aim now is to calm tensions.
Meeting in Paris
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has been invited to attend the meeting of the French Council of Ministers in Paris on Wednesday (13) and will make a statement alongside French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
The meeting is “a sign that the German government and the French government want to find a compromise”, said Marc Ringel, director of the Franco-German Institute in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
Last week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had already traveled to Paris for a meeting with French Chancellor Stéphane Séjourné.
With information from Reuters and AFP and RFI *** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI team ***