Putin says he sees no threat justifying use of nuclear weapons, but warns Russia could arm its Western enemies

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he sees no current threat to Russia's sovereignty that would justify the use of nuclear weapons, but again warned that Moscow could send weapons to countries or to groups to strike Western targets.

Speaking at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Putin said the use of nuclear weapons was only possible in “exceptional cases” and that he did not believe “such a case has occurred “. The Russian leader has repeatedly raised the specter of a nuclear attack since sending troops to Ukraine in 2022.

On Friday, he reiterated a warning issued days earlier that Moscow “reserves the right” to arm Western adversaries in response to some NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their weapons to strike targets in Russia.

“If they are supplying (weapons) to the combat zone and calling for these weapons to be used against our territory, why don’t we have the right to do the same?” » asked Putin.

“But I am also not ready to say that we will do it tomorrow,” Putin added, suggesting it could affect global stability.

He did not specify where these weapons could be sent. The United States said Russia had turned to North Korea and Iran to bolster its stockpile of relatively simple weapons, but Moscow could draw on its stockpile of high-tech missiles to share with its adversaries Westerners if Putin decides to carry out his threat.

The United States and Germany recently authorized Ukraine to strike certain targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they supply to kyiv.

On Wednesday, a Western official and a U.S. senator said Ukraine used U.S. weapons to strike in Russia, consistent with guidelines recently approved by President Joe Biden authorizing the use of U.S. weapons to defend Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive issue, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Putin also said he did not see the need for a new round of mobilization to strengthen Russian forces in Ukraine because, he said, “people come voluntarily and go to the front to defend the homeland.”

Russia mobilized 300,000 reservists in the fall of 2022 amid a series of military setbacks in Ukraine, an unpopular move that caused hundreds of thousands to flee the country to avoid being drafted.

Putin made the comments during a question-and-answer session with a pro-Kremlin moderator at the forum, used by Russia for decades as a showcase to tout the country's development and attract investors.

Earlier in his speech, he said the Russian economy was growing despite international sanctions and that Moscow had growing economic ties with countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Putin said Russia “remains one of the main players in global trade” despite drastic sanctions imposed over sending troops to Ukraine, which have halted much of Russia's trade with Western Europe , the United States and its allies.

The main driver of Russia's economic growth is fighting – now as important to the Kremlin economically as it is politically.

Russians are discovering a few imported staples and most global brands have disappeared – or been reincarnated as Russian equivalents. But the rest hasn't changed much economically for most people, with massive state spending on military equipment and large sums paid to volunteer soldiers providing a big boost to the economy.

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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.