Russia ‘ready’ for nuclear war, Putin claims

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the Kremlin is "ready" for nuclear war with the West, in his latest saber-rattling comments.

"From a military-technical point of view, of course, we are ready," Putin said in an interview with Russian state media published Wednesday, when asked whether his country was prepared for nuclear war. "We have them with us all the time, constantly in a state of combat readiness."

Putin's comments come the week of the Russian presidential "election," which the autocrat is all-but guaranteed to win to secure his fifth term in office.

Putin also warned Wednesday that the presence of American troops on Russian or Ukrainian territory would be considered an escalation and "this is how we will treat it," though he added that he didn't believe that was likely to occur.

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron triggered uproar among his Western allies when he refused to rule out the prospect of sending Western troops to Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden categorically ruled out the idea.

Putin last year revoked Russia’s ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and on Wednesday repeated that Russia would consider restarting nuclear testing if the U.S. does so.

“If they conduct such tests, I do not rule it out,” he said.