Putin Says, US Will Not Save Its NATO Allies If Russian Nuclear Bombs Are Eliminated

MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin said that NATO member countries in Europe had succeeded in provoking Russia to respond nuclear, The United States (US) will probably remain silent.

Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin was asked about the increasingly aggressive rhetoric from some European countries, which moderator Sergey Karaganov likened to barking at hyenas.

“European countries should think: if the parties with whom we have nuclear exchanges are eliminated, will America be involved in those exchanges, at the level of strategic weapons, or not? I highly doubt it,” Putin said in response to Karaganov’s comments.

The Russian president explained that, while the United States and Russia both have well-developed early warning systems to detect incoming missiles, NATO’s European member states do not.

“In this case, they are more or less helpless,” he said, as quoted from Russia TodaySunday (9/6/2024).

“In addition, Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons are three to four times more powerful than the bombs America used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Putin continued.

“We have much more—both on the European continent, and even if the US brings it in from America—we still have much more.”

Such a nuclear war, Putin said, would cause untold casualties.

While not ruling out changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, Putin said he currently only allows the use of atomic weapons in the event of a threat to Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is not currently the case.