Vladimir Putin ‘hopes nuclear weapons will not be required’ in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine has not arisen and he hopes it will not.
In comments aired on Sunday in a film by Russian state television about his quarter of a century in power, Mr Putin said Moscow has the strength and the means to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a “logical conclusion”.
Responding to a question about Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, he said: “There has been no need to use those (nuclear) weapons … and I hope they will not be required.”
“We have enough strength and means to bring what was started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires,” he said.
Nuclear doctrine
Mr Putin signed a revamped version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine in November, spelling out the circumstances that would allow him to use the world’s largest atomic arsenal.
The document gave that option in response even to a conventional attack backed by a nuclear power.
In the film, Mr Putin also said Russia did not launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine — what he called a “special military operation” — in 2014, when it illegally annexed Crimea, because it was “practically unrealistic”.
“The country was not ready for such a frontal confrontation with the entire collective West,” he said.
He also claimed that Russia “sincerely sought to solve the problem of Donbas by peaceful means”.
Mr Putin said reconciliation with Ukraine is “inevitable”.
Russia and Ukraine are at odds over competing ceasefire proposals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a ceasefire is possible “even from today” if Moscow is serious about ending the war.
Speaking on Sunday at a joint news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel, Mr Zelensky noted that Russia has ignored a US proposal for a full ceasefire for 54 days and thanked the Czech Republic for backing Ukraine’s call for a 30-day ceasefire.
“Putin is very eager to show off his tanks at the (Victory Day) parade,” Mr Zelensky said, “but he should think about ending his war.”
Scepticism
Mr Zelensky again expressed deep scepticism over Russia’s proposal of a 72-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to mark Victory Day in the Second World War, saying Moscow continues to launch hundreds of assaults despite publicly signalling interest in a partial truce.
“Even during Easter, despite promises — including to the United States — Russia carried out more than a hundred assaults,” Mr Zelensky said, referring to Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire unilaterally declared by Mr Putin.
Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called for a more substantial 30-day pause in hostilities, as the US had initially proposed.
The Kremlin said the Victory Day truce, ordered on “humanitarian grounds”, will run from the start of May 8 and run until the end of May 10 to mark Moscow’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 — Russia’s biggest secular holiday.
Mr Zelensky thanked Mr Pavel for his country’s military support and said Ukraine hopes to receive 1.8 million artillery shells in 2025 as part of a Czech-led initiative to supply military aid to Kyiv.
The initiative, launched in 2024 and supported by Nato allies, supplied Ukraine with 1.5 million artillery rounds last year.
Mr Zelensky also said he had discussed with Mr Pavel “the next steps in the development of our aviation coalition”, namely the creation of an F-16 training school. He said that such a base could not be opened in Ukraine because of Russian attacks.
Attack
A Russian drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, wounded 11 people, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Sunday. Two children were among the wounded.
Meanwhile, two people were killed by Russian guided bombs on Sunday, one each in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, local officials said.
Elsewhere, 11 people were wounded in a Russian drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Sunday. Two children were among the wounded.
Russia fired a total of 165 exploding drones and decoys overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. Of those, 69 were intercepted and 80 were lost, having probably been electronically jammed. Russia also launched two ballistic missiles.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 13 Ukrainian drones overnight.
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Putin knows damn well he can never use nuclear weapons against NATO because it would also lead to the destruction of his own country: MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction. Despite being bitter enemies since 1945 both the US and the Soviet Union/Russia the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis led to a mutual understanding between both countries. Communication between Pentagon and Kremlin officials are maintained even when their governments are not on speaking terms. The real danger is the possibility of a Trump/Putin axis. Yes of course of I want the US and Russia to be friends, but I also… Read more »
Ukraine isn’t a member of NATO
‘Putin knows damn well he can never use nuclear weapons against NATO because it would also lead to the destruction of his own country: MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction.’ I used to be pretty sure of that too. But since the return of Trump, I have this uneasy fear that Putin, in pursuit of his often stated aim of reconstituting Catherine the Great’s 18th century Russian empire, might calculate that a Trump presidency might mean that there’d be no serious US response if he were to send his troops into one of more of the Baltic states. Even though they’ve all… Read more »
He sounds more like Twmp with every passing day…
Bloke who tries to rape a country and that country fights back, he says beware.
The bloke who buys arms from NK and Iran, the bloke that use’s NK troop’s and Chinese troops says no one can help Ukraine.
This is who Farage admires the most.
If you care to read further into this conflict it started in 2014 and not with the Russian Invasion.
So they buy from NK, China and Iran!
Then what’s the difference from taxpayer funded weapons from The USA, GB and Germany.
What the weather like in St Petersburg.
Except Russia is the aggressor and not Ukraine.
No, the real aggressor is and always has been Uncle Sam from both political sides.
And let’s not forget it was Trumpet who massively began arming the Ukr’s from 2017.
Invading a sovereign country is an act of aggression full stop. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator but he wasn’t the aggressor when the US and UK invaded Iraq in 2003. The US are not the only ones capable of aggression.
And who benefited from the looting of Russian resources during the Yeltsin years?
And which family held a 10%stake in one of Russia’s biggest energy companies.
Mostly Russian oligarchs, from whom Putin subsequently appears to have demanded his ‘cut’!
Doesn’t make sense to contaminate territory you’re hoping to acquire.
Some Yank Generals wanted McArthur to create a nuclear buffer zone to hold the Chinese back round Korea time…
and this is the politician who Nigel Farage most admires admires in the whole wide world.
‘… Mr Putin said Moscow has the strength and the means to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a “logical conclusion”’.
If not remotely as swiftly as he appeared initially to have presumed!