Putin warns of Third World War in case of Russia-NATO military conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that a direct conflict between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance means the world is just one step away from World War III. Nobody wants this kind of situation. The Ukraine war has caused the deepest crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Putin has often warned about the dangers of nuclear war but says he never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that he could not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine in the future, even if many Western countries distance themselves from it. Others, especially Eastern Europe and Ukraine, have expressed their support. Asked about Macron's comments and the risk and possibility of conflict between Russia and NATO, Putin quipped: "Everything is possible in the modern world."

"It is clear to everyone that this will be one step away from a full-scale Third World War. I think hardly anyone will be interested in it," Putin told reporters. However, Putin noted that NATO troops were already in Ukraine, adding that Russians had learned both English and French, the languages spoken on the battlefield. He said, "It's not good for anyone, especially the Uke, because they are dying in large numbers out there."

Ahead of the March 15–17 Russian elections, Ukraine stepped up attacks against Russia, shelling border areas and even using weapons to try to penetrate Russia's borders. Asked whether he considered it necessary to take Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Putin said that if attacks continued, Russia would create a buffer zone from more Ukrainian territory to protect Russian territory.

Putin declined to give further details, but said such a zone should be large enough to prevent foreign-made weapons from reaching Russian territory. Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a major European war in eastern Ukraine after an eight-year conflict between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.

Putin said he wanted Macron to stop trying to escalate the war in Ukraine, but play a role in peacekeeping: "It seems that France can play a role. All is not lost yet." Putin said, "I have said it again and again and I will say it again. We are in favor of peace talks, but not just because the enemy is running out of bullets." "If they really, seriously, want to build peaceful, good-neighborly relations between the two states in the long term, and not just take a break for 1.5-2 years for rearmament."