- Published
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will use all weapons at his disposal if it considers it has come under direct attack in its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
asserted
it → publish → Kaliningrad
Addressing the Valdai foreign policy forum, Putin insisted Russia was "not threatening anyone" and merely responding to statements by Western leaders that Moscow was preparing for war in 2029 or 2030.
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Moscow → address → 2029
Throughout this week, Russia has accused Nato of preparing to blockade its territory, which borders Lithuania and Poland, warning that it would even be prepared to use nuclear weapons if the West tried to cut off Kaliningrad from the rest of Russia.
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West → accuse → Russia
Nato has sought to calm the situation, stressing it is a defensive alliance and urging Moscow to stop its "nuclear threats".
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it → seek → threats
Western allies have faced a surge in so-called hybrid warfare incidents blamed on Russia, particularly in Poland and the Baltics in recent months.
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allies → face → months
Last week alone Poland said a Russian helicopter had strayed into its territory adjacent to Kaliningrad and Lithuania said its population felt "constantly threatened" by Russia, in part because of drones entering the nation's airspace.
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drones → say → airspace
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that his country was preparing for further hybrid attacks, "including serious ones", after a drone armed with explosives was found in August on the tarmac at Leipzig airport close to Ukrainian cargo planes.
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drone → say → planes
In a wide-ranging speech, the Russian leader told his audience he believed that international conflicts were highly likely to continue, but would get better as "Western hegemony" weakened.
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hegemony → range → audience
Although Putin himself began the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, he again blamed the West for provoking the invasion, arguing that it had simply been forced to defend itself and take up arms.
He also insisted that Russia's attacks on Ukrainian economic targets were a direct response to Ukraine's strikes on Russia's oil refineries, and on its ships in the Black Sea.
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attacks → begin → Sea
"Now from every direction we're receiving calls 'let's stop'.
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's → receive → calls
But they started it," he said.
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he → start → it
Putin admitted Kyiv had "got some results" from its refinery attacks and Russia had lost about 1% of its GDP.
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Russia → admit → GDP
Ukraine maintains it began attacking Russian oil infrastructure because it helped the Kremlin finance the war.
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Kremlin → maintain → war
Russia has targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure, ramping up attacks every winter since the war on Ukraine started in 2022.
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war → target → 2022
Other civilian infrastructure is also regularly hit, and a key bridge in Kyiv was attacked by drones on Thursday.
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bridge → hit → Thursday
Putin also accused the West of instigating other conflicts.
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Putin → accuse → conflicts
"If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation, in this case we are talking about Kaliningrad but possibly some other territories, of course the issue of use by the Russian Federation of all arms at the disposal of our country will inevitably and immediately be on the agenda," he said.
uncertain
he → come → agenda
He accused Nato of holding naval manoeuvres in the Baltic Sea which he argued represented serious threats to Kaliningrad.
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he → accuse → Kaliningrad
If the territory came under Western blockade, he said Russia would be prepared to use all means and forces, including nuclear.
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Russia → come → nuclear
"We are not threatening anyone.
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We → threaten → anyone
We do not intend to attack anyone in 2029, in 2030, in 2050.
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We → intend → 2050
But if we come across an aggression we will have to respond.
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we → come → aggression
He added that while he was aware of the nuclear capabilities of countries such as the UK and France, the weapons at its disposal were unparalleled.
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weapons → add → disposal
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte made clear on Wednesday that none of the alliance's "exercises or activities" posed any threat to Moscow and the Kremlin's messaging was "absolutely not called for and not helpful".
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messaging → make → Moscow
Putin spent some time talking about leading countries in the world having armaments at their disposal that could "swipe away all life or at least push the Earth to catastrophic consequences", and said unfortunately no-one could be sure they would never be used.
uncertain
they → spend → consequences
He drew the analogy of a gun sitting on a theatre stage - if it was hanging there at the start of the show, it would certainly fire at the end.
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it → draw → end
He appeared to call for the rules of warfare to be rewritten, and warned of the increasing risk of artificial intelligence.
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rules → appear → intelligence
"The automation and digitalisation of warfare leads to its gamification.
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automation → lead → gamification
This leads to degradation and sliding back of humanity to barbarity," he said.
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he → lead → barbarity
The Aporia
