Russia is not the enemy and will not attack NATO, says Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference. At the same time, he warns the West not to assume that Russia would never use nuclear weapons to defend itself.
On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin met with a number of major news agencies, including several from Western countries, for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The press conference lasted over three hours at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, SPIEF.
Among other things, he took up the issue that he believes it is wrong for the West to have a picture of Russia as the enemy.
In response to a question about whether Russia could use nuclear weapons, Putin said that the conditions for using such weapons are clearly defined in Moscow's security doctrine. If the West assumes that Russia will never use nuclear weapons, he means that it is wrong.
Germany has decided, like the US, to allow Ukraine to use donated weapons to attack a number of military targets in Russia. This applies to targets against Russian forces that are attacking Ukraine, the decision would contribute to defending Charkiv.
Putin calls Germany's decision a "dangerous step".
At the press conference, he criticized Western countries' deliveries of long-range weapons to Ukraine – and says that Moscow could deliver similar weapons to other countries to attack Western targets.
However, despite the US government recently giving permission for Ukraine to attack Russian targets, Putin says that the relationship between the countries will not be affected by who becomes the new president. In February, he stated that he preferred Donald Trump as the winner of the election.
