- Feb 5, 2002
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MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual state of the nation address on Thursday, issuing explicit nuclear threats to the West even as he assured Russians their country could both emerge victorious from the war in Ukraine and thrive economically at home.
The Kremlin billed the speech as akin to a campaign platform reveal — no less than Putin's vision for Russia's future ahead of a March election in which he faces no serious competition for a fifth term in office.
But the Kremlin leader made no mention of the vote, as he blended belligerence with optimism in a sprawling, two-hour-plus speech before Russia's Federal Assembly that in its opening moments touched most heavily on the now 2-year-old war in Ukraine.
Putin warned that if Ukraine's Western backers deepened their involvement in the war, such as sending troops, the consequences for the "invaders" would be "tragic" and it would risk starting a nuclear war.
"They must realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory," Putin said, in apparent reference to increasingly lethal Western weapons provided to Kyiv. "What they are now suggesting and scaring the world with — all that raises the real threat of a nuclear conflict that will mean the destruction of our civilization."
Continued below.
The Kremlin billed the speech as akin to a campaign platform reveal — no less than Putin's vision for Russia's future ahead of a March election in which he faces no serious competition for a fifth term in office.
But the Kremlin leader made no mention of the vote, as he blended belligerence with optimism in a sprawling, two-hour-plus speech before Russia's Federal Assembly that in its opening moments touched most heavily on the now 2-year-old war in Ukraine.
Putin warned that if Ukraine's Western backers deepened their involvement in the war, such as sending troops, the consequences for the "invaders" would be "tragic" and it would risk starting a nuclear war.
"They must realize that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory," Putin said, in apparent reference to increasingly lethal Western weapons provided to Kyiv. "What they are now suggesting and scaring the world with — all that raises the real threat of a nuclear conflict that will mean the destruction of our civilization."
Continued below.
