Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States that they will not evade punishment for supporting Ukraine with a stark nuclear warning.
Putin made the threat during an interview this week as he prepares for the elections, which will be held from Friday to Sunday.
Responding to a question on whether Russia was ready for nuclear war, Putin said, “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready.”
Putin added that America knows that U.S. boots in Ukraine would be treated as an intervention.
“Apart from [President Joe] Biden, there are enough other experts in the sphere of Russian-American relations and strategic restraint,” Putin said.
“So I don’t think that everything is going to go head-on here, but we are ready for it,” he added.
Putin previously warned that Russia has nuclear weapons and would not hesitate to use them.
“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said in the interview, Reuters noted.
“We have our own principles.”
The Russian leader also said his country is ready for talks on Ukraine if there is something substantive to discuss.
“Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but they should be based on reality — and not on cravings after the use of psychotropic drugs,” Putin said.
He went on to add that if a deal was reached, Russia would need assurances it would be observed.
Putin also noted that America is not prepared for a nuclear war.
“They are now setting tasks to increase this modernity, innovation,’ Putin said.
“They have a corresponding plan. We know about it, too. They are developing all their components. So are we,” Putin said.
Putin made similar threats last month when French President Emmanuel Macron warned of the potential of Western troops in Ukraine.
“Everything that they are coming up with now, with which they threaten the entire world — all this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization — don’t they understand this, or what?” Putin said.
“They must ultimately understand that we also have weapons — and they know about it, just as I now said — we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” he said then.
He also said the recent drone strikes within Russia orchestrated by Ukraine have the goal of “frustrating the elections in Russia.”
“Another goal is to get some kind of trump card in a possible negotiation process,” he said.
READ: Putin Calls Out Key Detail in Tucker Carlson Interview
