We have never had any problems with Sweden, and even less Finland, No problems at all, (but) they have now both lost their benefits of being neutral, he claims according to the news agency Reuters.
Warns of escalation
Most of the appearance at the think tank Valdai was about Ukraine and the Western world, according to among others the news agency AFP. After this week’s EU summit and the recent drone alarms in among other things Denmark, Vladimir Putin responds to the warnings of Russian aggression.
The European power elite creates hysteria by saying that a war is at the door, he claims.
Putin is also warning the West against supplying Ukraine with American cruise missiles of the Tomahawk type, which the US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday is being discussed.
This would mean a completely new level of escalation.
We are monitoring very closely the increased militarization in Europe. The Russian response will not be delayed. The response to the threats will be very significant.
No tsar
Putin is also hitting back at the West’s description of him as a dictator. On a question of whether he recognizes himself in Tsar Alexander I – who in 1812 fought against France’s Napoleon I – the president replied:
No, I do not recognize myself in that. Alexander I was an emperor. I am a president, elected by the people for a specific period.
In the election in March last year, no independent opposition was allowed. When and if Putin’s term of office ends, he will have been in power in Moscow for 30 years and thus, barely, have been in power longer than the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
