Russian President Vladimir Putin ratcheted up tensions with Europe on Tuesday, warning that if the bloc sparked a war with Russia, Moscow was prepared to meet it.
Putin also blasted European leaders, accusing them of sabotaging U.S.-led efforts to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine.
“But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away. There can be no doubt about that,” Putin said, according to The Associated Press.
Putin was responding to a question about Russian media reports that Hungary’s foreign minister warned Europe was preparing for war with Russia. Putin insisted, as he has for years, that Moscow does not seek a war with European nations.
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The Russian president made the remarks after speaking at an investment forum and before meeting in the Kremlin with a U.S. delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
It’s not the first time Putin has warned Europe about meddling in the war.
In October, Putin warned that Europe would face a “significant response” if it continued supplying military aid to Ukraine, and he made similar threats in May.
In February 2024, Putin warned that Western military intervention against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could result in nuclear escalation — a statement widely interpreted as a warning to Europe and Western allies.
Putin claimed on Tuesday that European leaders introduced “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia” that effectively “blocked the entire peace process.” He accused them of doing so cynically in order to blame Moscow for rejecting peace.
European leaders have maintained that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a stepping stone to a wider war with the 27-nation European Union, which has poured billions of dollars into supporting Kyiv.
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Putin said European powers had locked themselves out of peace talks on Ukraine because they cut off contacts with Moscow.
“They are on the side of war,” Putin said.
He also suggested the conflict in Ukraine was not a full-blown war, describing Russia’s actions as “surgical” — a restraint, he said, that would not apply in a direct confrontation with European powers, according to Reuters.
Putin’s comments come as Witkoff and Kushner press for peace between Ukraine and Russia.
On Sunday, Witkoff — a central figure in negotiating the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kushner in Florida to meet with Ukrainian negotiators. Rubio described the meeting as “very productive.” In a statement, Rubio said the goal is “not just the end of the war.”
Last week, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Moscow could reject the White House’s peace framework if it does not uphold the “spirit and letter” of what Trump and Putin agreed to at the Alaska summit in August. He said that if the “key understandings” were watered down, the situation would become “fundamentally different.”
Despite Lavrov’s comments, Putin showed interest in Trump’s effort to end the war, calling the drafted plan a starting point.
“We need to sit down and discuss this seriously,” Putin told reporters, according to the AP.
He characterized Trump’s plan as “a set of issues put forward for discussion,” rather than a draft agreement.
Fox News’ Andrea Margolis, Sarah Tobianski, Kyle Schmidbauer and Ashley Carnahan as well as The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
