Putin dismisses Europe as military pushover
Vladimir Putin has warned that Europe is “defenceless” and unprepared for a nuclear conflict with Russia.
In a typically bellicose speech at the St Petersburg Economic Forum this week, Putin also predicted that Nato would fail to protect Europe in a war with Russia.
“Europe does not have a developed early warning system. In this sense they are more or less defenceless,” he said, sitting on stage alongside Luis Arce, Bolivia’s president, and Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s president.
Putin has previously boasted of Russia’s nuclear arsenal but he intensified his rhetoric this week at the forum, held as Nato allies marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Normandy.
This included using one of his first interviews with Western media to claim that he had no intention of attacking Nato, although he also said that he was prepared to arm allies of Russia with long-range missiles to strike Europe.
During his four-hour speech and question and answer session on Friday at the end of the business-orientated forum, the moderator asked Putin if he should hold a “nuclear pistol” to the West.
“The use is possible in an exceptional case, in the event of a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. I don’t think that such a case has come. There is no such need,” replied Putin.
The Russian president has unnerved commentators in the West by testing missiles that can be armed with a nuclear warhead. Russian media has also talked up the possibility of the Kremlin test-firing its first nuclear weapon since 1990, a threat that Putin repeated on Friday.
“If necessary, we will conduct tests. So far, there is no need for this,” he said.
With his forces on the offensive in Ukraine, Western politicians squabbling over military aid for Kyiv and the successful purge of Russia’s Ministry of Defence, blamed for the botched initial invasion of Ukraine, Putin has appeared more relaxed and confident in the past month.
And Russians milling around outside the main forum hall said that Putin was a hero who had saved Russia. Many were queuing to buy T-shirts branded with his quotes justifying his war in Ukraine.
Although economists have warned that Russian GDP growth is premised mainly on military spending, Putin boasted that Western sanctions had failed to dent Russia’s economy and he was strengthening Russia’s ties with countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
“Positive macroeconomic trends are gaining momentum,” he said. “This will allow our country to keep its place among the leading economies of the world.”
As well as pushing his nuclear threat, Putin used the forum to promote his two daughters who gave speeches on Thursday and Friday. Maria Vorontsova, 39, is a genetics researcher; Katerina Tikhonova, 37, is a tech investor.
Putin has never publicly acknowledged the two women as his daughters and this was the first time they had both attended the business forum.
Analysts said that the appearance of Putin’s two daughters did not mean that they were being groomed for power but did fit a pattern of promotion for the children of Kremlin insiders.
Ksenia Shoigu, daughter of Putin’s loyal former defence minister, also took part in panel events at the forum and last month Putin promoted Dmitry Patrushev, son of former Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, to become a deputy prime minister.
“The rise of the princess, children of representatives of the political elite has begun,” said Yevgeny Minchenko, a political scientist who’s worked with the Kremlin.
