Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again asserted that any direct contact or direct clash of NATO troops with the Russian army would lead to a "global catastrophe". NATO's secretive Nuclear Planning Group had on Thursday met as the military alliance presses ahead with plans to hold a nuclear exercise next week as concerns deepen over Putin's insistence that he will use any means necessary to defend Russian territory.
NATO is keeping a wary eye on Russia's movements but has so far seen no change in its nuclear posture. But additional uncertainty comes from the fact that Russia is also due to hold its own nuclear exercises soon, possibly at the same time as NATO or just after, according to NATO diplomats.
Attending a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kazakhstan's capital, the Russian president — facing domestic discontent and military setbacks in a neighboring country armed with increasingly advanced Western weapons — also told reporters he does not regret starting the conflict and “did not set out to destroy Ukraine” when he ordered Russian troops to invade nearly eight months ago.
“What is happening today is unpleasant, to put it mildly,” he said after attending a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kazakhstan's capital. “But we would have had all this a little later, only under worse conditions for us, that’s all. So my actions are correct and timely.”
Putin also expects his mobilisation of army reservists for combat in Ukraine to be completed in about two weeks, allowing him to end an unpopular and chaotic call-up meant to counter Ukrainian battlefield gains and solidify his illegal annexation of occupied territory.
