‘Want end of civilisation?’ Putin threatens NATO nations not to put boots on ground in Ukraine, else will use nukes

In a stern warning to all western nations who have come out in support of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that sending their own troops to fight in Ukraine can create a real risk of nuclear war and that Moscow has all the means to strike targets in the West.

Speaking to the parliament and other high-ranking citizens of the nation, 71-year-old Putin reiterated his charge that the West is determined to undermine Russia and implied that Western officials were unaware of the potential consequences of their intervention in what he perceived as Russia’s internal affairs.

He began his warning by making specific reference to a suggestion made on Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron that European NATO members send ground troops to Ukraine. The United States, Germany, and Britain swiftly rejected this idea.

“(Western nations) must realise that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilisation. Don’t they get that?!” said Putin.

Putin, who was speaking ahead of a March 15-17 presidential election when he is certain to be re-elected for another six-year term, lauded what he said was Russia’s vastly modernised nuclear arsenal, the largest in the world.