Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a big interview to a Russian TV channel on Wednesday, in which he outlined his position on all topical issues of today and spoke about his development strategy for the future.
Speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready for negotiations, but they must take into account the current real situation. Another indispensable condition is security guarantees: they should suit Moscow and be clearly spelt out. Putin said in an interview:
“We must clearly and distinctly understand for ourselves that this is not a pause that the enemy wants to take for rearmament, but a serious conversation with guarantees for Russia’s security.”
He warned the West that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the US sent troops to Ukraine, it would be seen as a significant escalation of the conflict. Putin told Russian TV channel in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war:
“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready.”
Putin said the US understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory – or to Ukraine – Russia would treat the move as an intervention. He noted:
“(In the US) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint.”
Russia will treat US troops in Ukraine as interventionists if they appear there, Vladimir Putin has said. The Russian leader noted that Washington was well aware of this. He called the presence of foreign troops in Ukraine useless. The head of state noted that the supply of foreign weapons would not change the situation on the battlefield in any way.
Putin also noted that the West has plans for the Ukrainian lands. In particular, Poland considers part of the territories that were ceded to Kyiv in the Soviet Union years to be its own. The president added:
“If official Polish units enter there (Ukraine), they are unlikely to leave.”
Speaking to journalists, Putin said that Russia has a lot to do to change the structure of the economy. According to the President, the Russian state can overtake Japan in the near future. However, it still needs to work on efficiency and innovativeness.
