Putin warns ‘retaliatory strikes will be lightning-fast’ if West intervenes in Ukraine
Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned the Kremlin’s “retaliatory strikes will be lightning-fast” if the United States or a Nato country intervenes in the Ukraine war.
In a television address, he responded to President Joe Biden committing to more military aid to Kyiv continuing to ramp up sanctions on Moscow with European allies.
This comes after foreign secretary Liz Truss said Britain should be sending troops and warplanes to help Ukraine.
In his speech, according to a translation from Russian media as reported by Reuters, he said: “If someone intends to intervene in the ongoing events from the outside, and create strategic threats for Russia that are unacceptable to us, they should know that our retaliatory strikes will be lightning-fast,” said Putin, according to video of his address supplied by Russian media.
“We have all the tools for this, things no one else can boast of having now. And we will not boast, we will use them if necessary. And I want everyone to know that.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, “The sooner everyone in Europe recognises that they cannot depend on Russia for trade, the sooner it will be possible to guarantee stability in European markets,”