Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and that such a war should never be started. The Kremlin leader made the comment in a letter to participants at a conference on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), more than five months after his war against Ukraine. “We proceed from the fact that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be launched, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the global community,” he said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register His words at the NPT forum appeared aimed at striking a reassuring note and portraying Russia as a responsible nuclear power. They contradicted earlier statements by Putin and other Russian politicians that have been interpreted in the West as implied nuclear threats. In a speech on February 24, as he launched the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin made a strong reference to Russia’s nuclear arsenal and warned outside powers that any attempt to intervene would “lead you to such consequences as you have never encountered in your history.” . Days later, he ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be put on high alert. The war has raised geopolitical tensions to levels not seen since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with politicians in both Russia and the United States speaking publicly of the risk of World War III. CIA Director William Burns said in April that given Russia’s failures in Ukraine, “none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to conventional or low-yield nuclear weapons.” Russia, whose military doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons in the event of an existential threat to the Russian state, has accused the West of waging a “proxy war” against it by arming Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Moscow. Earlier on Monday, a Russian Foreign Ministry source questioned the seriousness of US President Joe Biden’s comments calling for talks on a nuclear arms control framework to replace a treaty that expires in 2026. Read more In April, Russia conducted a first test launch of its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of carrying out nuclear strikes against the United States, and said it planned to deploy the weapons by the fall. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Mark Trevelyan. edited by Guy Faulconbridge Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
