Putin Says the World Is in a Dangerous Situation, Warns West Against Escalation

The world is in a dangerous situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, warning the West not to escalate the enmity caused by the war in Ukraine by threatening Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

Putin was speaking on Thursday at the annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Moscow when he issued the Oct. 1 warning.

According to state-run news agency TASS, the Russian leader said that the West was still pushing to break up the “former Russian Empire,” which was why, according to Putin, it was threatening the Russian Federation.

He said that even though the Soviet Union broke up in the 1990s, the West was still not satisfied with the state of Russia.

“Despite all these changes, Russia was viewed as a key part of the historical Russian Empire,” Putin said, according to TASS.

“And they still say this at various events and gatherings: ‘We need to finish breaking up the empire.’ This is what led to today’s, frankly, very dangerous situation in both Europe and the world.”

Putin specifically cited the Russian city of Kaliningrad, a former German exclave on the Baltic Sea bordered by NATO members Poland and Lithuania, as a target of Western ire.

“If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation—in this case, meaning Kaliningrad, [but] perhaps other territories as well—of course, the question of the Russian Federation using all weapons at our country’s disposal will inevitably and immediately appear on the agenda. This is inevitable,” he said.

Putin acknowledged that Russia would be outnumbered should such an incident occur, saying Moscow would face an enemy “twice as numerous,” but said that its “competitive” advantage in this scenario would be its arsenal.

He noted that France and the UK are both nuclear powers, saying Russia understands this “perfectly well” but stressed that “no one else has the weapons that Russia has today. And this is our competitive advantage.”

Putin added that Russia wasn’t “threatening anyone” but rather “simply saying that we don’t have many tools to defend ourselves.”

The issue of Kaliningrad has shot to the fore in already bitter relations between Moscow and the West, after British media recently speculated about the exclave as a Western target.

The UK’s Sky TV recently broadcast a four-part documentary-drama series, “The Wargame,” in which a fictional British Cabinet considers strikes on Russian territory, including Kaliningrad, after a simulated attack on the UK by Moscow.

The London-based iPaper also said on Sept. 26 that the territory “once seen as a threat to NATO could now be a weakness for Vladimir Putin that is waiting to be exposed.”

This prompted the Russian Embassy in the UK to issue a Telegram post on Sept. 29 saying: “Any British or NATO military action against Russian territory would be met with a response using all means at Russia’s disposal, including nuclear weapons.

“Russia has repeatedly made clear that it neither seeks confrontation with NATO and Europe nor intends to attack them. But should anyone choose to unleash such a conflict, they must be under no illusion that Russia will respond accordingly.”

Following the remarks from Moscow’s London embassy, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called for calm within the alliance, saying on Sept. 30 that there is “no immediate threat” to NATO territory.

Asked at a summit in Brussels, Belgium, whether it was now a real risk that nuclear weapons could be deployed, Rutte replied, “No, it’s not,” adding that Putin is aware Russia couldn’t beat NATO in a war and, therefore, he doesn’t take such threats seriously.

He added that, as far as NATO was concerned, “we can allow a bit of calm,” saying that the alliance would be aware if Russia were planning an attack.

“There is no imminent threat to NATO territory,” Rutte said. “If there is a build-up, we will see it, and we will deal with it. If anything happens otherwise, we will also deal with it because we have prepared and trained for this.”

Rutte said that he believes Russia is making these threats because it is not doing well in Ukraine and is seeking to diminish support for Kyiv.

Victoria Freidman and Owen Evans contributed to this report.