VOLGOGRAD. Feb 2 (Interfax) - Russia has something to respond with if foreign tanks, including Germany's Leopards, are supplied to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"We have something to respond with, and it won't be limited only to the use of armored hardware," Putin said at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad on Thursday.
The forces waging an undeclared war against Russia will face a tough response, Putin said. "We're not sending our tanks toward their borders, but we have something to respond with," he said.
"Those who are threatening us are probably unable to understand the simple truth: our whole nation, all of us, were grown on up and sucked in with our mothers' milk traditions of our people, the generation of victors, who created our country by their labor, sweat, and blood and handed it down to us," he said.
"The fortitude of the defenders of Stalingrad is a key moral compass for Russian warriors, and Russian soldiers are faithful to it," Putin said. "This is exactly what distinguishes Russia and makes us strong and confident in ourselves, our right cause, and our victory," he said.