Putin Plays Down Threat of Nuclear War in Pre-Election State TV Interview

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia took a much less strident tone on the potential for nuclear conflict in an interview launched on Wednesday, an obvious try to 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 handle final month, when he said that the West risked nuclear conflict with Russia if it intervened extra immediately in Ukraine. Within the interview, Mr. Putin described the US as searching for 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” have been threatened.

“I don’t assume that every thing is dashing head-on right here,” Mr. Putin mentioned when requested whether or not Washington and Moscow have been headed for a showdown. He added that although the US was modernizing its nuclear drive, “this doesn’t imply, in my opinion, that they’re prepared to begin this nuclear conflict tomorrow.”

“If they need it — what can we do? We’re prepared,” 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 voters, 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 fashionable pro-Kremlin blogger summed up Mr. Putin’s message this manner: “There gained’t be nuclear conflict.”

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 notably 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 conflict.

However in his dealings with the West, Mr. Putin sees the specter of Russia’s huge nuclear arsenal as one in every of his only devices. He has repeatedly made reference to that arsenal when attempting to discourage Western nations from extra actively supporting Ukraine, most just lately in his Feb. 29 annual handle, when he portrayed the deployment of forces from NATO nations to Ukraine as a step that may result in nuclear conflict and the “destruction of civilization.”

Within the interview launched on Wednesday, Mr. Putin tried to deal with the Russian public’s fears whereas preserving stress on the West. Requested whether or not Russia and the US have been enjoying a sport of rooster, Mr. Putin described President Biden as searching for to keep away from a direct conflict and mentioned that Ukraine’s destiny was of far higher significance to Russia than to the US.

“I’ve mentioned that Biden is a consultant of the standard political faculty,” Mr. Putin mentioned. “For us, this can be a query of life and loss of life, whereas for them it’s a query of enhancing their tactical place.”

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 have 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 by no means such a necessity.”

“We’ve got our personal rules — what do they are saying?” Mr. Putin mentioned, referring to Russia’s nuclear doctrine. “That we’re prepared to make use of weapons, together with any weapons, together with these you talked about, if we’re speaking in regards to the existence of the Russian state, about doing injury 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 objective in Ukraine as a cope with the US 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 enhancing, given its army’s advances on the battlefield.

“We’re prepared, however, for a critical dialog,” Mr. Putin mentioned. “However we have to plainly and clearly perceive for ourselves that this isn’t a pause that the enemy needs to take to rearm, however that this can be a critical dialog with safety ensures for the Russian Federation.”