Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's words about the intervention of third countries in the invasion did not refer to nuclear weapons and that no one is thinking of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
“Any outcome of the operation, of course, is no reason for the use of a nuclear weapon. We have a concept of security that states very clearly that only when there is a threat to the existence of the state in our country, can we and will actually use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat,” he explained.
Thus, given the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the event of a third actor getting involved, Peskov has made it clear in an interview on the PBS television network that he “does not believe” that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, was referring, in his words, to the use of nuclear weapons.
In particular, Peskov referred to the speech given by the Russian president when he announced the invasion of Ukraine in the Donbas region, in which he warned “different states not to interfere in Ukraine-Russian affairs during the operation”.
“No one is thinking about using (or) even the idea of using nuclear weapons,” he said, adding that Putin was “quite bold” in saying (to third parties) “don't interfere,” because, in the case of doing so, “we have every chance to prevent and punish” everyone who is going to do so.
Peskov emphasized that Western countries have declared a total economic war against Russia. “We have to adapt to the new conditions. And, unfortunately, those conditions are rather unfriendly,” he said of the sanctions imposed on Russia.
In this context, Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov threatened on Monday that Russia will not provide gas “for charity” to “hostile” countries that do not want to pay it in rubles.
Peskov acknowledged that the gas supply process is “very complicated” and indicated that Moscow is still evaluating the details of this supply after revealing its plans to require payment for raw materials in rubles for countries that have imposed sanctions in retaliation against the invasion of Ukraine.
While it has not advanced possible measures against countries that do not want to pay in Russian currency, it has assured that Russia will “definitely” not provide gas to Europe “for free”. “That's for sure,” he said, remarking that “it is difficult to commit to charity” in the current situation of the Eurasian country, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
For their part, the G7 countries expressed their rejection of Russia's intention on Monday and considered the imposition to be “unacceptable”.
Putin expressed his intention to change the currency of payment for gas last week, although he assured that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with established volumes and prices.
(With information from Europa Press)
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