Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a blunt warning at the Valdai foreign‑policy forum, telling an audience that Moscow would resort to every weapon in its arsenal to defend the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad if it were threatened by the West.
Putin asserted that Russia was not attacking anyone and that the Kremlin only reacted to Western leaders who warned that Moscow was preparing for war in 2029 or 2030. He accused NATO of planning naval manoeuvres in the Baltic Sea that could isolate Kaliningrad and threaten its connectivity to mainland Russia.
During the week, NATO officials said the exercises were defensive and urged Moscow to drop “nuclear threats.” Yet Putin warned that Russia would be prepared to deploy nuclear weapons if Kaliningrad were cut off.
The European Union’s security climate has sparked a surge in hybrid‑war incidents. Last week Poland reported a Russian helicopter overflight near Kaliningrad, while Lithuania said its citizens felt constantly threatened by drones breaching its airspace.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany was bracing for further hybrid attacks after an armed drone landed at Leipzig Airport in August.
In the broader context of the Ukraine war, Putin claimed that any attacks on Russian oil facilities were retaliatory and that Russia had suffered a loss of roughly 1% of its GDP.
He also warned that global powers housed weapons that could destroy life or bring catastrophic consequences, remarking that no one could be sure these weapons would never be used. Putin likened a gun on a theatre stage to the potential firing of nuclear arms at any moment.
Image source: EPA/Shutterstock
