Putin warns of nuclear retaliation over potential Kyiv armament

The Russian President attended the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday. Questions arose at the press conference concerning the escalation of the war in Ukraine and the measures Russia is prepared to continue bearing.

According to Putin, it is unlikely that Kyiv would obtain nuclear weapons from the West. However, he assured that the Kremlin would do everything to prevent this. "If the country which we are essentially at war with now becomes a nuclear power, what do we do? In this case, we will use all, I want to emphasize this, precisely all means of destruction available to Russia. Everything: we will not allow it. We'll be watching their every move," Putin declared in Kazakhstan's capital. His words are cited by agencies including RIA Novosti.

The "New York Times" reported last week, citing several unnamed Western officials, that U.S. President Joe Biden could provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons before the end of his term. "If officially someone were to transfer something, then that would mean a violation of all the non-proliferation commitments they have made," Putin emphasized.

Putin assessed that Ukraine is not capable of independently producing nuclear weapons, but it might afford to create some kind of "dirty bomb." This concerns a conventional explosive device filled with radioactive material. He noted that in such a case, Russia would respond "appropriately."

Earlier, the dictator threatened that Russia would use Oreshnik ballistic missiles to strike Ukraine's decision-making centres. He stated that Russia has begun mass production of this weapon, and in the event of extensive use of these missiles, their force would be comparable to using nuclear weapons. Recently, the Russians used Oreshnik ballistic missiles in combat for the first time, with which they attacked Ukrainian plants in the city of Dnipro.