Can use nuclear weapons but won’t, says Russia President Vladimir Putin

Russia President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia could “theoretically” use nuclear weapons if there was a threat to its territorial integrity or existence, but that it did not need to.

He was speaking at the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Putin also touted Russia’s prospects at the country’s main international economic forum despite heavy international sanctions imposed because of the war.

“Nuclear weapons have been made to ensure our security in the broadest sense of the word and the existence of the Russian state, but we… have no such need (to use them),” Putin said.

He also said Russia’s military could destroy parts of central Kyiv but had chosen not to for various reasons.

Speaking at the forum, Putin did not specify the reasons. Attacks on Russia’s border territories were an attempt to distract Moscow’s forces from other fronts, he said.

There was a “serious danger” that the Nato military alliance could be pulled further into the Ukraine conflict, he added. Putin cast a public slur on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s Jewish roots , saying without evidence that some Jews considered him a disgrace to their faith.

“I have many Jewish friends. They say Zelenskyy is not a Jew, he is a disgrace to the Jewish people,” Putin said.