Russia ‘not mad’ and US to blame for nuclear war risk, Putin says, as shelling on Ukraine continues and UK MP calls for BP to give money to Kyiv
- Putin says it’s the US that has deployed tactical nuclear weapons in other countries and Russia’s own arsenal is purely a deterrent
- Russian strikes in Ukraine killed at least 6 people on Wednesday and set buildings ablaze in Kurakhove in the east, Zelensky says
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the risk of a nuclear war was rising, but insisted Russia had not “gone mad” and that it saw its own nuclear arsenal as a purely defensive deterrent.
“We have these means in more advanced and modern form than any other nuclear country,” he said. “But we aren’t about to run around the world brandishing this weapon like a razor.”
Nevertheless, he said, Russia would defend its territory and its allies “with all available means”, adding that it was the United States, not Russia, that had deployed so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons in other countries.
He also repeated his position that Russia had had no choice but to intervene militarily in Ukraine, saying pro-Western revolutionaries had started “the war” there in 2014 when Ukraine’s pro-Russian president was overthrown after weeks of street protests.
02:41
Ukraine warns of more emergency blackouts as Russia unleashes another missile barrage
The remarks came as Russia continued its shelling of Ukraine. At least six people were killed and several buildings set ablaze in the town of Kurakhove in the east of the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.