MOSCOW – *President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would regard anyuse of nuclear weapons against its allies as a “nuclear attack” on itselfand give an “instant” response.*
Delivering his annual state of the nation speech in Moscow on Thursday,Putin expressed concerns about the new US nuclear posture, which haslowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.
The new American policy allows the use of nuclear weapons “in response to aconventional attack or even a cyberthreat,” the Russian president said,adding, “Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons only in responseto a nuclear attack or an attack with other weapons of mass destructionagainst her or her allies, or a conventional attack against us thatthreatens the very existence of the state.”
“Any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies, be itsmall-scale, medium-scale or any other scale, will be treated as a nuclearattack on our country. The response will be instant and with all therelevant consequences,” he pointed out.
Putin also said that Russia had tested a number of new advanced strategicweapons, which could not be intercepted, saying they would render NATO’sUS-led missile systems “useless.”
They include a nuclear-powered cruise missile, a nuclear-powered underwaterdrone and a hypersonic Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)that have no equivalents elsewhere in the world, Putin said.
The Sarmat system is capable of carrying a wide range of nuclear weaponsand has virtually no range limit, able to strike across both the South andNorth Poles, according to Putin.
“I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawfulsanctions aimed to contain our country’s development: all what you wantedto impede with your policies have already happened,” he noted, adding, “Youhave failed to contain Russia.”
Putin further stressed that Russia had begun working on ways to counterAmerican anti-missile capabilities as early as 2004, but that Washingtonhad ignored Moscow’s call for dialogue.
“As you see, we didn’t keep our plans a secret. We talked about them openlyto encourage our partners to negotiate. I repeat, we talked about them in2004 already. It is surprising, but despite all the problems that we facedin the economy, finance, defense industry, and in the military, Russiaremains the largest nuclear power. But no, nobody wanted to talk to us.They didn’t listen to us, so listen to us now,” he said.
Russian President Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address tothe Federal Assembly in Moscow on March 1, 2018. (Photo by Sputnik)
Elsewhere in his address, Putin said Moscow’s counter-terrorism operationin Syria had showed Russia’s increased capabilities in the defense sector.
He said “enormous work” has been done in recent years to reinforce theRussian Army and Navy.