Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on October 1 that Moscow is prepared to use "all weapons" in its arsenal — including nuclear weapons — if Russia comes under direct attack, starting with its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. The remarks, reported by Reuters, CNN, and The Times, were made at the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow.
"If it comes to direct attack against the Russian Federation — in this case, we are referring to Kaliningrad, and perhaps other territories as well — the question of the Russian Federation deploying all the weapons at our country's disposal will, of course, inevitably and immediately be on the agenda," Putin told the forum of international Russia experts. "This is inevitable." He added that Russia has no plans to attack any European country and wants to coexist peacefully.
Putin said Russia would be facing "an enemy (NATO) twice our size" and must use its "competitive advantages": "Yes, of course, France and Britain are nuclear powers — we understand that perfectly well. But no one else possesses the kind of weapons that Russia has today. That is our competitive advantage." Moscow frames NATO's back-to-back Baltic Sea drills and attempts to detain Russian ships as "escalation."
The warning follows NATO military exercises near Kaliningrad that the bloc describes as defensive and aimed at strengthening deterrence. In late September, Moscow warned it would retaliate if NATO attempted to blockade the exclave by air or sea. According to The Times, Russia issued a similar nuclear warning to NATO on Wednesday; Putin repeated it on Thursday. Kaliningrad, Russia's westernmost territory, sits sandwiched between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
NATO, several European countries, and the United Kingdom accuse Russia of waging "hybrid warfare" against them — cyberattacks, sabotage, and espionage — aimed at breaking their support for Ukraine. Russia's war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year, and Putin shows no sign of slowing his offensive, intensifying strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and Kyiv ahead of a bitterly cold winter.
Putin and other Russian officials have issued nuclear threats toward Kyiv's Western allies repeatedly since the war began. NATO says there is no indication Russia is preparing to launch nuclear missiles, but Kyiv fears Putin could break the eight-decade taboo on wartime nuclear use. Tying "all weapons" directly to Kaliningrad marks another escalation in Moscow's nuclear-deterrence rhetoric, with no sign of the standoff cooling anytime soon.