Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was “ready” for a war with Europe but insisted Moscow did not want such a conflict, warning that any escalation would leave no winners.
“We are ready, but we do not want any war with Europe,” Putin said at a press conference following the Russia-Africa summit on Oct. 29, according to Interfax-RU.
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He dismissed the prospect of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia by 2030, saying it was “hardly possible.”
“But if things go too far, there will be no winners at all. Let no one forget that,” he warned.
Putin also said Moscow supported efforts to restore relations with European countries, both with the EU as a whole and with individual states.
His remarks came as European governments step up preparations for a possible confrontation with Russia amid growing concerns over sabotage, espionage, cyberattacks and drone incursions into European airspace.
Germany’s elite KSK special forces, for example, have begun training for a potential conventional war with Russia, moving beyond their traditional focus on hostage rescue and counterterrorism, Brig. Gen. Andreas Kuhne told BILD earlier this week.
Putin defends Nordic leaders’ call
Putin also defended Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre over their Oct. 27 telephone conversation with him, saying the two leaders were right to reach out despite criticism from other European officials.
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He confirmed that the conversation took place at the initiative of the Nordic leaders and covered a range of issues, including tensions in the Baltic Sea.
“I know that criticism was later directed at them, but it is not for us to judge whether this [the call] is right or wrong. I believe it is right,” Putin said, according to Interfax.
“After all, there are people in Europe who do not want to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, as some do, but want to establish some kind of constructive dialogue,” he added.
The call came after a week of diplomacy involving the two Nordic leaders.
On Oct. 20, Støre and Stubb hosted a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior US envoy Steve Witkoff for talks in Oslo, with US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joining remotely.
Witkoff then traveled to St. Petersburg for a direct meeting with Putin on Oct. 21, where he urged Putin to consider resuming trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US, bringing documents outlining approaches to ending the war.
The Kremlin reiterated that a just and lasting peace in Ukraine was possible only if Russia’s interests were taken into account.
Putin’slatest comments came on the same day that the Kremlin ruled out European participation in next month’s Abu Dhabi negotiations involving Ukraine and the US.
Source: www.kyivpost.com
