Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken some familiar swipes at the US and its allies during a speech on Thursday, accusing “Western elites” of playing a “dangerous, bloody and dirty game” and seeking to blame them for much of the world’s trouble, including his own invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at the Valdai Club discussion forum in Moscow, he denied that Russia had considered using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, saying Moscow had never “intentionally said anything” about it, but added that as long as nuclear weapons exist, there is always the danger of their use.
“We never intentionally said anything about the possibility of using nuclear weapons by Russia. We only responded with hints to (nuclear threats from) from Western leaders,” Putin said, accusing Western governments, including former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, for engaging in “nuclear blackmail” against Russia.
Putin also accused the West of “forcing the thesis that Russia will use nuclear weapons” to influence neutral countries against Moscow. He stressed that Russia’s military doctrine only allows the use of nuclear weapons for “defense” purpose.
His comments come after Russian officials claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine is considering the use of a “dirty bomb,” which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described as “another fabrication and something that is also the height of irresponsibility coming from a nuclear power.”
Blinken reiterated that the US is tracking the Kremlin’s nuclear saber-rattling “very carefully,” but hasn’t “seen any reason to change our nuclear posture.”
In Moscow, the Russian President also blamed Western governments, many of which have offered support to Kyiv in the face of Moscow’s illegal invasion, of seeking global domination and attempting to control the world’s natural resources.
“Power over the world is what the so-called West is banking on in its own game. But this is a dangerous game. It’s a bloody game and it’s a dirty game. It denies all the sovereignties of countries, and their uniqueness, it doesn’t take into consideration the interests of other countries,” Putin said.
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