Putin tells Europe that Russia is 'ready for war' but insists 'there will be no winners' if tensions escalate
Vladimir Putin, who told African leaders he does not want the Baltic Sea to face a blockade situation like the effectively closed Strait of Hormuz, speaks at the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow.A crew member at the controls of Russia's Generalissimo Suvorov nuclear submarine, as Western intelligence officials warn Moscow's hybrid sabotage campaign across Europe risks a catastrophic miscalculation before 2030.
Speaking at the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow on Thursday, Putin declared "we are ready, but we don't want any war with Europe" — directly responding to Western defence planning that targets 2030 as a potential conflict window. He added that Europe had "failed to achieve their goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia" and that doing so by 2030 was "highly unlikely". The remarks followed a rare phone call with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, in which the Nordic leaders urged de-escalation.
Just hours after that call, Russia test-fired a nuclear-capable Bulava ballistic missile from submarine Generalissimo Suvorov, travelling around 3,400 miles to a test range just 320 miles from Norway.
Putin said he did not want the Baltic Sea to face a situation similar to the Strait of Hormuz, effectively blocked since the US-Iran war began in February.
Zelensky separately warned that Ukraine's fate could be shaped by Tuesday's US midterm elections, saying the results will "have influence on a lot of different things, including the war."
