Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday won the 2024 elections and came back for a fifth term. In his election victory speech, he warned the West of World War III, saying that Russia would not be “intimidated.”
According to an AFP report, Putin said, “I want to thank all of you and all citizens of the country for your support and this trust. No matter who or how much they want to intimidate us, no matter who or how much they want to suppress us, our will, our consciousness — no one has ever succeeded in anything like this in history. It has not worked now and will not work in the future. Never.”
With this election win, Putin becomes one of the longest-serving Russian leaders in more than 200 years.
In a stern warning to the West, Putin cautioned that a direct confrontation between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance would bring the world perilously close to the brink of World War Three, emphasizing that such a scenario was undesirable to virtually everyone.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has exacerbated tensions between Moscow and the West to levels not seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Despite frequently highlighting the risks of nuclear conflict, Putin asserted that he had never considered the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Putin’s statement came after French President Emmanuel Macron gave a statement this week regarding the potential deployment of ground troops in Ukraine that has stirred debate, with many Western nations distancing themselves from such a prospect, while some countries in Eastern Europe have expressed support.
According to recent reports, Macron reiterated France’s determination to prevent Russia from achieving victory in the Ukraine conflict. And, last month, he said that he could not dismiss the possibility of deploying ground troops in Ukraine at a later stage.
Responding to Macron’s remarks and the possibility of conflict between Russia and NATO, Putin told Reuters, “everything is possible in the modern world.”
However, he emphasized that the consequences would be dire: “It is clear to everyone that this will be one step away from a full-scale World War Three. I think hardly anyone is interested in this.”
Putin highlighted the presence of NATO military personnel in Ukraine, noting that Russian forces had observed English and French being spoken on the battlefield, a concerning development that he deemed detrimental primarily to those involved, given the significant casualties incurred.
Amid heightened tensions, particularly in the lead-up to the Russian election from March 15 to 17, Ukraine intensified its attacks on Russian border regions and even employed proxies in attempts to breach Russia’s borders. When asked about the possibility of seizing Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in response to these attacks, Putin suggested that if such provocations persisted, Russia would establish a buffer zone using additional Ukrainian territory to safeguard its own borders.
In February 2022, Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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