Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would employ every weapon at its disposal if Kaliningrad, the country’s Baltic exclave, were to come under direct attack. The president insisted that Moscow was not threatening anyone, but was reacting to Western statements that it was preparing for war in 2029 or 2030.
During the week, Russia has accused NATO of preparing to blockade its territory, which borders Lithuania and Poland, warning that it would even use nuclear weapons if the West tried to cut off Kaliningrad from the rest of Russia. NATO has urged Moscow to stop its “nuclear threats” and stressed that it is a defensive alliance.
Western allies have reported a surge in hybrid warfare incidents blamed on Russia, particularly in Poland and the Baltics. Last week, Poland said a Russian helicopter had strayed into its airspace near Kaliningrad, and Lithuania said its population felt “constantly threatened” by drones entering the nation’s airspace. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country was preparing for further hybrid attacks after a drone armed with explosives was found in August on the tarmac at Leipzig airport near Ukrainian cargo planes.
In a speech at the Valdai foreign policy forum, Putin said he believed international conflicts were highly likely to continue but would improve as “Western hegemony” weakened. He blamed the West for provoking the invasion of Ukraine, arguing that Moscow had been forced to defend itself. He also said Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian economic targets were a direct response to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries and ships in the Black Sea.
Putin warned that if Kaliningrad came under direct attack, Russia would use all means, including nuclear, and that citizens of European countries should be fully aware of that possibility. He added that while he was aware of the nuclear capabilities of countries such as the UK and France, the weapons at Russia’s disposal were unparalleled.
Western officials have long feared that Russia might use the Suwalki Gap, the short distance between Kaliningrad and Belarus, to seize Lithuanian territory by force. Lithuania’s prime minister said the country had made evacuation plans in case of a Russian invasion, and thousands of NATO troops are stationed there. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said none of the alliance’s exercises posed any threat to Moscow and that the Kremlin’s messaging was “absolutely not called for and not helpful”.
Putin also warned of the increasing risk of artificial intelligence and called for the rules of warfare to be rewritten, saying the automation and digitalisation of warfare leads to its gamification and a slide back to barbarity.
