Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that there would be no winners if a nuclear war broke out and said it should not be considered.
“Russia consistently follows the letter and spirit of the [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons],” Putin wrote, according to state-run media.
Moscow’s “obligations under bilateral agreements with the United States on the reduction and limitation of relevant weapons have also been fully fulfilled,” Putin added, saying his government believes “that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it must never be unleashed.”
The Russian leader made the remark to participants of a conference on the nuclear nonproliferation treaty about five months after the start of the Ukraine–Russia war. Days after the start of the Feb. 24 invasion, Putin ordered the country’s nuclear forces to be placed on a state of heightened alert, sparking worldwide concern regarding the risk of a nuclear war or World War III occurring….