Russia's President Vladimir Putin has warned the West that his country was technically prepared for nuclear war and that sending soldiers to Ukraine would escalate the conflict.
As Russia prepares for the March 15-17 election, Putin said that Russians would undoubtedly give him another six years in office, emphasized that the nuclear war scenario was not "rushing" and that he saw no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
When asked if Russia was truly prepared for a nuclear war, Putin, 71, responded, "From a military-technical standpoint, we are, of course, ready."
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The Russian head of state said the US recognized that if American forces were placed on Russian territory or in Ukraine, Russia would regard the move as an intervention.
"(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint," said Putin.
"Therefore, I don't think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this."
The Biden administration has indicated it has no intentions to send soldiers to Ukraine but has emphasized the necessity of adopting a blocked security aid bill that would ensure the Ukrainian military has the weapons it needs to fight the conflict now.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a top Ukrainian presidential official, said in a statement to Reuters that Putin's nuclear warning was propaganda intended to terrify the West.
"Putin, realizing things are going awry, continues utilizing conventional nuclear hyperbole. "With the old Soviet hope - 'be scared and retreat!'" said Podolyak, who believes such discourse indicates Putin's fear of losing the battle.
The Ukraine war has produced the most severe crisis in Moscow's ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has often warned of the dangers of nuclear war but claims he has never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
