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Russia threatening no one with nuclear arms — Putin

The Russian president recalled that Western countries had unleashed "large-scale wars"

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/. Russia threatens no one with nuclear arms but everyone should bear in mind that it will use such weapons to defend its sovereignty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

When asked at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to comment on the West’s allegations about the threat of a nuclear war and the Third World War, the Russian leader noted that Moscow "hears such rhetoric."

"Where does it come from? From their own statements. Now and then irresponsible politicians would blurt out something like that, even high-ranking politicians - say, at the level of foreign ministries, the leaders are ranting and raving about it. Are we supposed to stay silent? We are responding correspondingly. As soon as we respond, they would pick on our words and say: look, Russia is threatening us. We are not threatening anyone, but everyone should know what we have and what we will use to defend our sovereignty. These are obvious things," he said.

The president recalled that Western countries had unleashed "large-scale wars." "Iraq is practically wrecked. Libya is still unable to restore its statehood. And the war in Afghanistan lasted for decades to leave it ingloriously after all. But the matter is that the situation also developed as they wanted it to but not as it should," he noted. "In many cases, say, in Yugoslavia, a country was dismembered. And after our country ceased to exist, new countries, new interests emerged, there were a lot of internal contradictions and they encouraged them. Then, they began to tear Kosovo off Serbia. Not clear what for either.".