Putin Performs Down Menace of Nuclear Battle in Pre-Election State TV Interview

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia took a much less strident tone on the opportunity of nuclear warfare in an interview launched on Wednesday, an obvious try and bolster his home picture as a guarantor of stability earlier than the Russian presidential election this weekend.

In a prolonged interview launched by Russian state tv, Mr. Putin struck a softer tone than in his state-of-the-nation deal with final month, when he said that the West risked causing the “destruction of civilization” if it intervened extra immediately in Ukraine. Within the interview, Mr. Putin described the USA as in search of to keep away from such a battle, whilst he warned that Russia was ready to make use of nuclear weapons if its “sovereignty and independence” had been threatened.

“I don’t think that everything is rushing head-on here,” Mr. Putin mentioned when requested whether or not Washington and Moscow had been headed for a showdown. He added that although the USA was modernizing its nuclear pressure, “this doesn’t mean, in my view, that they are ready to start this nuclear war tomorrow.”

“If they want it — what can we do? We’re ready,” Mr. Putin mentioned.

Within the interview, Mr. Putin additionally denied having thought-about utilizing weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine within the fall of 2022, as American intelligence officers have asserted.

The feedback appeared aimed largely on the Russian citizens, coming two days earlier than polls open within the presidential election, which runs from Friday to Sunday. Whereas Mr. Putin is all but assured to win a fifth term, the Kremlin is eager to drive up turnout to current the vote as a stamp of approval for the president and his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

One widespread pro-Kremlin blogger summed up Mr. Putin’s message this fashion: “There won’t be nuclear war.”

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, critics of Mr. Putin have increasingly taken aim at what he has lengthy introduced as maybe his largest home promoting level: the notion that he introduced safety and stability after Russia’s chaotic Nineteen Nineties. Russians seem significantly nervous in regards to the prospect of nuclear battle; 55 p.c of respondents told an independent pollster in January that they feared a brand new world warfare.

However in his dealings with the West, Mr. Putin sees the specter of Russia’s monumental nuclear arsenal as one in every of his best devices. He has repeatedly made reference to that arsenal when making an attempt to discourage Western nations from extra actively supporting Ukraine, most not too long ago in his Feb. 29 annual deal with, when he portrayed the deployment of forces from NATO nations to Ukraine as a step that may result in nuclear warfare.

Within the interview launched on Wednesday, Mr. Putin tried to deal with the Russian public’s fears whereas conserving stress on the West. Requested whether or not Russia and the USA had been taking part in a sport of hen, Mr. Putin described President Biden as in search of to keep away from a direct warfare and mentioned that Ukraine’s destiny was of far better significance to Russia than to the USA.

“I’ve said that Biden is a representative of the traditional political school,” Mr. Putin mentioned. “For us, this is a question of life and death, whereas for them it’s a question of improving their tactical position.”

American officers have mentioned that Mr. Putin got here closest to utilizing nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine within the fall of 2022, when Russia’s floor forces had been on the again foot and American intelligence intercepted frequent conversations in the Russian military about reaching into the nuclear arsenal.

Requested within the interview launched on Wednesday whether or not he had thought-about utilizing “tactical” nuclear weapons at that time, Mr. Putin mentioned that “there was never such a need.”

“We have our own principles — what do they say?” Mr. Putin mentioned, referring to Russia’s nuclear doctrine. “That we are ready to use weapons, including any weapons, including those you mentioned, if we are talking about the existence of the Russian state, about doing damage to our sovereignty and independence.”

When requested about his invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Putin mentioned that Russia would push on and improve its firepower on the battlefield to scale back its personal casualties.

As he did in final month’s speech, Mr. Putin described his finish aim in Ukraine as a cope with the USA akin to the “security guarantees” that Russia proposed in 2021, on the eve of the invasion, which might have given Moscow a brand new sphere of affect in Japanese Europe and which the West rejected as unacceptable. He additionally indicated that he noticed Russia’s negotiating place as bettering, given its army’s advances on the battlefield.

“We are ready, nevertheless, for a serious conversation,” Mr. Putin mentioned. “But we need to plainly and clearly understand for ourselves that this is not a pause that the enemy wants to take to rearm, but that this is a serious conversation with security guarantees for the Russian Federation.”