MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Russia has never proactively talked about the possible use of nuclear weapons, and the inflated rhetoric on the issue is used to influence our supporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"As long as nuclear weapons exist, there is always a danger of their use as well. The purpose of today's fuss over nuclear threats and the possible use of nuclear weapons is very primitive and I would hardly be mistaken to say what it is... I have already said that the diktat of Western countries, their attempt to pressure all participants in international communication, including neutral or friendly to us countries, ends up with nothing and they are looking for additional arguments to convince our friends or neutral states that they all need to stand up against Russia together," Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday.
"The provocations with nuclear weapons and fueling the possibility of the very thesis of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia are used precisely to achieve these goals - to influence our friends, our allies, and neutral states, to tell them: look who you support, what a terrible country Russia is, no need to support it, no need to cooperate with it, no need to buy anything from it, no need to sell it anything," he said.
"This is actually a primitive goal," Putin said.
"We have never proactively said anything about Russia's possible use of nuclear weapons, but only responded in hints to those statements made by Western leaders," Putin added.
"Well, this Mrs. Liz Truss, the previous British prime minister, she told the press directly: yes, the United Kingdom is a nuclear power, it is the prime minister's responsibility to possibly use it, and I will do it, I am ready for it. This is not word for word, but it is close to the text," Putin said.
At the same time, he said, "no one reacted in any way."
"Well, let's just say, she blurted it out - the woman is a little out of her mind. Well, how can you say such things in public? She said. She would have been corrected and they would have said publicly in Washington: we have nothing to do with it, we are not aware of this. And there was no need to offend, just to distance oneself," Putin noted.
"After all, everyone is silent. What are we supposed to think? We think that this is a concerted position, and that they are starting to blackmail us. And what should we do? Should we keep silent altogether, pretend that we have not heard anything?" he went on to say.
There are other statements on this matter, the Russian president said.
"The leadership of the Kiev regime is constantly talking about its desire to possess nuclear weapons," he said.