Vladimir Putin Accuses NATO of Preparing War Against Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Tuesday that Western nations, specifically NATO and European Union members, are no longer concealing their preparations for a direct war with Russia. Speaking at a Kremlin ceremony for graduates of military and security academies, Putin asserted that the West has evolved from supporting Ukraine to openly increasing offensive budgets and discussing military readiness.

Putin characterized the Western rules-based world order as a cover for neocolonial ambitions and argued that the West creates threats to force Russia into self-defense. He called for a global order based on international law and the authority of the UN Security Council. To counter these threats, Putin noted that Russia is modernizing its nuclear triad and allocating nearly 40% of its national budget to military and security expenditures, citing the testing of over 1,000 new weapon systems in Ukraine over the last year.

Simultaneously, Putin accused the Ukrainian government of targeting civilian energy infrastructure and arms factories, such as a site in Voronezh, to compensate for battlefield setbacks. He ordered government officials to implement measures to minimize the impact of these raids, which have recently caused power outages and petrol shortages in the annexed Crimea peninsula.