Putin denies Russia intends to use N-weapons in Ukraine

Accuses West Of Inciting War, Says World Entering Dangerous Decade

President Vladimir Putin-denied that Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons on Thursday as he reeled off a familiar litany of criticisms of a “cosmopolitan” Western elite seeking to dominate the rest of the world, using an annual foreign policy speech to try to appeal to conservatives in the US and Europe. “We have no need to do this,” Putin said. “There’s no sense for us, neither political nor military.” It was unclear if Putin’s comment was the last word on Moscow’s plans. From the start of the war, Russian officials’ comments have presented a confusing mix of truths. Officials insisted in February, for instance, that Russia had no intention of invading Ukraine just before Russian troops crossed the border.

In one of his longest public appearances since he sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, Putin signalled he had no regrets about what he calls “a special operation” and accused the West of inciting the war and of playing a “dangerous, bloody and dirty” game that was sowing chaos across the world. “The historical period of the West’s undivided dominance over world affairs is coming to an end,” Putin told the Valdai Discussion Club. He said that the world faced the most dangerous decade since WWII as Western elites scrambled to prevent the inevitable crumbling of the global dominance of the US and its allies. He also gave a scathing interpretation of what he portrayed as Western decline in the face of rising Asian powers such as China. He appeared relaxed over more than three and a half hours as he was questioned about fears of nuclear war, his relations with President Xi Jinping.