Putin Says Any Country That Attacks Russia With Nuclear Weapons Will Be Blown Off Earth By Its Advanced Hypersonic Weapons

Vladimir Putin promised on Friday that any country that dares to attack Russia with nuclear weapons will be wiped off the face of the earth.

The Russian president said his country, unlike the United States, has no mandate to launch a preemptive first nuclear strike, but advanced hypersonic weapons allow it to respond forcefully if attacked.

His comments came at a press conference after a meeting of regional leaders in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek this afternoon.

Putin also told reporters that an agreement must eventually be reached to end the conflict in Ukraine. He claimed the Kremlin was open to a deal but said confidence in Western and Ukrainian forces was “almost zero”.

Putin said Russia had no mandate to launch a pre-emptive first strike, but its hypersonic weapons would allow Moscow to respond with great force if attacked (Russian test launch of Sarmat ICBM).

After meeting the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union – Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia – Putin told the media that Russia wanted to find a peaceful solution in Ukraine but had been betrayed by the collapse of the Minsk agreements.

The Kremlin chief said Germany and France – which brokered ceasefire agreements between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 in the Belarusian capital of Minsk – had betrayed Russia and were now pumping weapons into Ukraine .

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview in the German magazine Zeit on Wednesday that the Minsk agreements were only drawn up to give Ukraine time to build up its defenses against Russian aggression. disappointed him.

In this Aug. 20, 2021 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel enter the hall for a joint press conference after their talks at Moscow’s Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (L) shake hands during their meeting on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, December 9, 2022

Elaborating on yesterday’s high-profile prisoner swap between Washington and Moscow, Putin said further US-Russia prisoner swaps were possible after the event in the United Arab Emirates went smoothly.

Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, commonly known as the Merchant of Death, was traded Thursday for WNBA star and two-time Olympian Brittney Griner.

When asked if other prisoners could be swapped, Putin replied that “anything goes,” noting that “compromises were found” to authorize Griner’s exchange for Bout on Thursday.

“We do not refuse to continue this work in the future,” he added.

Despite negotiations to replace Griner, the most prominent American imprisoned abroad, the US has failed to secure the freedom of another American – corporate security executive and former Marine Paul Whelan, who has since December 2018 in Russia was imprisoned.

The decision to trade a basketball player for a world-renowned arms dealer and intelligence officer for a military veteran angered many American politicians and commentators.

Pictured: Brittney Griner is on a plane heading back to the United States

In the photo: “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout boards a plane on his way to Russia

Arms smuggler Viktor Bout of Russia is escorted by a member of the special police force as he arrives at a criminal court in Bangkok October 4, 2010.

The Russian president later told the media that he agreed with the court’s decision to jail one of his critics and political opponents – although he claimed to have no knowledge of the prisoner.

A Moscow court today sentenced opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison for spreading “false information” about Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

The 39-year-old – an ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and former Putin adversary Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015 – is just the latest in a long line of Kremlin critics to be sidelined in a recent crackdown is, which increases after Putin. sent troops to Ukraine.

His supporters in the courtroom cheered Yashin, who smiled and waved to family despite being handcuffed during the sentencing hearing.

Judge Oksana Goryunova said Yashin had committed a crime by “knowingly spreading false information about the Russian armed forces” and sentenced him to eight years and six months in a penal colony.

In April, he described the alleged killing of civilians in Bucha as a “massacre”, referring to a town near the Ukrainian capital Kiev where civilians were found dead after Russian troops withdrew.

But when asked about Yashin’s conviction on Friday, Putin feigned ignorance and asked: “And who is he?” A blogger?

“I don’t think it’s wise to question the court’s decision.

Russian opposition leader, former Moscow MP Ilya Yashin (C) stands in a defendant’s cage before a hearing at the Meshchansky Court in Moscow, Russia, December 9, 2022

Yashin displayed a peace sign from his defendant’s cage in court as he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison

Speaking to a journalist at the Bishkek press conference, Putin uttered a phrase that perfectly reflected his dictatorial nature.

Asked by a Radio Vesti reporter who to trust with conflicting information about supplies to the Russian military, Putin jovially replied: “You can’t trust anyone – only me.”

The Russian president laughed at the phrase, but his collegial tone did little to diminish his unwavering belief in the statement.

‘That [supply] the problems are far from completely solved, but it is only a matter of time … the most acute ones, in my opinion, have already been solved,” Putin concluded.

And the Kremlin chief also warned that Russia could cut oil production in response to a $60 price cap on its oil exports agreed by Western countries after Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.

The price cap agreed by the EU, the G7 and Australia came into force on Monday and aims to limit Russia’s income while ensuring Moscow continues to supply the world market.

“We will consider a possible production cut if necessary,” Putin told reporters, adding that the price cap was a “stupid decision” that “hurts global energy markets” but had “no impact” on Russia.