Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will react quickly if it believes that Europe is provoking it and said that almost the entire NATO alliance is now fighting against Russia through Ukraine. Putin’s statements came during his speech at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on 2 October.
At the same time, he stressed that the process of militarisation of Europe is gaining momentum.
“The FRG, for example, is saying that the German army should be the most powerful in Europe again. Well, well, we are listening to this carefully, seeing what is meant. I think there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that retaliatory measures from Russia will not be long in coming,” Putin said, noting that the response to the threat “will be very convincing.”
“Exactly the response. We ourselves have never initiated a military confrontation,” added the Russian president, whose army is now in its fourth year of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Putin also said that it was European countries that were to blame for the continuation of the war in Ukraine.
“So far, unfortunately, it has not been possible to stop hostilities. But the responsibility for this lies not with the majority but with the minority, above all with Europe, which is constantly escalating the conflict,” Putin said.
He also rejected US President Donald Trump’s claims that Russia is a “paper tiger,” saying that Russia has the most combat-ready army in the world, and if Russia is a “paper tiger,” so is NATO.
Go and try to deal with a paper tiger,” Putin said.