Putin calls nuclear weapons a tool of deterrence in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories into Russia as a major achievement of what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation.”
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed the annexation of Ukrainian territories as a major achievement and said his country’s nuclear weapons serve as a tool of deterrence in the war that the Kremlin calls a “special military operation.”
Speaking with members of the presidential Human Rights Council, Putin described the land gains as “a significant result for Russia,” noting that the “Sea of Azov has become Russia’s internal sea.” He added that “Peter the Great fought to get access to the Sea of Azov.”
Russia seized broad swaths of southern Ukraine in the opening days of its invasion of Ukraine and captured the key Sea of Azov port of Mariupol in May after a nearly three-month siege. In late September, Putin illegally annexed four regions of Ukraine: Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, and Donetsk and Luhansk in the east.
Asked by a member of the Human Rights Council to pledge that Russia would not be the first to use nuclear weapons, Putin demurred, saying Russia would not be able to use nuclear weapons at all if it agreed not to use them first and then cames under a nuclear strike.
