Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday (Oct 5) that Moscow wants to build a “new world,” blaming Western hegemony for a grinding offensive in Ukraine. The Russian president also framed the Ukrainian conflict as part of a long-running conflict with the West. Putin stated that Russia had “practically finished work on the modern strategic weapons that I have been talking about and I announced a few years ago”. He delivered another nuclear threat, saying that the ‘Satan-2‘ and ‘Flying Chernobyl’ missiles will be available soon.
Putin issued a stern warning to the West, stating that Russia may begin nuclear testing
“From the moment the launch of missiles is detected, no matter where it comes from – from any point of the world ocean or from any territory – such a number, so many hundreds of our missiles appear in the air in a retaliatory strike that there is no chance of survival there will be no single enemy left, and in several directions at once,” Putin said. Putin said Russia is “tasked, essentially, with building a new world” and further added that the West was aiming for global “hegemony”. Putin said, “The West always needs an enemy.”
Putin issued a stern warning to the West, stating that Russia may begin nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades and may withdraw its ratification of a historic nuclear test moratorium pact. Putin alluded to the Burevestnik when he said that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile. He stated that the Burevestnik’s capabilities are unparalleled.
On the nuclear doctrine, he said, “Do we need to change this? And why? Everything can be changed but I just don’t see the need for it.”
Putin also stated that no one in their right mind would use nuclear weapons against Russia and that potential adversaries were aware of Russia’s nuclear stockpile. However, the Kremlin chief stated that there was no need to alter Russia’s nuclear doctrine because any attack on Russia would elicit a split-second retaliation with hundreds of nuclear missiles.
On the nuclear doctrine, Putin said, “Do we need to change this? And why? Everything can be changed but I just don’t see the need for it.” “I think no person of sound mind and clear memory would think of using nuclear weapons against Russia,” he said. Putin also accused the US of directing other countries on how to behave. In his annual keynote speech at the Valdai Discussion Club, in Sochi, Putin targeted the US and said, “All the time, we hear ‘You must’, ‘You have to’, ‘We’re seriously warning you’. Who are you anyway? What right do you have to warn anyone? Maybe it’s time you yourself got rid of your arrogance and stopped behaving that way towards the world.”
The Russian president stated that the conflict in Ukraine is “not a territorial one” and that Moscow has “no interest in conquering some territories.” Russia’s army now controls huge swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine, and Putin has formally annexed four Ukrainian regions: Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Lugansk. Putin has repeatedly stated that Ukrainian territory was traditionally Russian, calling Ukrainian statehood into question.