The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, denied this Friday that his country is preparing military action against the European Union and has accused its member states of “deliberately exaggerating” the threat to justify war spending and support for the Ukrainian Government.
“I want to emphasize once again that we are not preparing for any type of combat with Europe. We have no plans of that type and, what is more important, there are no real reasons that justify a worsening of the situation,” said the president during a speech at the International Cultural Forum in Saint Petersburg.
The Kremlin’s statement comes amid increased defensive maneuvers by NATO, which has reported possible Russian hybrid attacks on European territory in the short term.
“Everyone is talking, many in Europe say that they expect an attack by the Russian Federation and that, therefore, they must prepare themselves for military actions, for war with Russia,” he said.
As part of the contingency plans for a hypothetical attack, for example, Germany trains its health network to provide mass hospital discharges and respond to the arrival of war wounded, while Poland fortifies its border and instructs the civilian population and Lithuania consolidates the permanent presence of allied troops in its territory.
In this regard, Putin has called Western warnings of imminent Russian aggression a “provocation.” In his opinion, European leaders “try to deceive their citizens” by stirring up fear of war to prolong the conflict.
“They want to continue using Ukraine and Ukrainians as cannon fodder, and the Ukrainian State as an instrument to stop and prevent Russia’s development,” he asserted.
Finally, Putin has criticized these European and Atlantic maneuvers as a way of “continuing to invest money in absolutely aggressive politics” and, therefore, “explaining to their citizens why they do it, trying to deceive them.”
