Putin dismisses talk of Russian NATO attack as ‘nonsense'

Metro

6 hours ago

Steve Charnock Published June 19, 2025 10:50am Link is copied Comments Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed claims that Russia intends to attack NATO. Putin called the idea 'nonsense', suggesting that the idea was fabricated by Western leaders aimed at convincing taxpayers to boost their own defence spending. He insisted that Russia does not see NATO as any kind of threat, nor does it consider the alliance's rearmament efforts to be a danger to Russia. Although he did characterize those efforts as 'completely irrational and pointless' (Picture: Sputnik/AP) At a late-night press conference on Wednesday, the Russian chief vowed that his forces would continue their advance in Ukraine. But he was adamant that Russia had no plans to advance militarily in the direction of NATO, something which would no doubt result in a massive global escalation of the conflict (Picture: Sputnik/AP) NATO is set to hold a pivotal summit in The Hague next week, where leaders will discuss whether or not to agree to raise their defence spending to 5% of GDP. It's a move being pushed by US President Donald Trump and is something now being echoed by others in the alliance. It's thought likely that the organisation will agree to the spending increase (Picture: Pool/ABACA/Shutterstock) Putin attempted to explain why - to his mind - it made 'no sense for NATO to extend their arms budget'. 'We do not consider any NATO rearmament to be a threat to the Russian Federation, because we are self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our security' (Picture: AFP via Getty Images) Putin then spoke on why it may look, to NATO, as if Russia is stepping up its efforts with increased military spend and developments. 'We are constantly improving our armed forces and our defensive capabilities,' he said. 'Whatever NATO does, of course, it creates certain threats, but we will stop all these threats that will arise. There is no doubt about it. In this sense, any rearmament and budget increase to 5% of the GDP of NATO countries makes no sense' (Picture: AP) 'Secondly. over the centuries, unfortunately, in the West, from time to time, for decades, the question of the threat from Russia has always arisen. It was so convenient for the Western elites to build their internal policy, because on the basis of an imaginary threat from the east, they could extort money from taxpayers and all the time explain their own mistakes in the field of economics by the threat from the east' (Picture: AFP/Getty Images) 'If the NATO countries want to further increase their budget, well, that's their business. But it won't do anyone any good. Of course, they will create additional risks. Well, yes, they will. But it's not our decision. I think this is completely irrational and pointless. And, of course, there are no threats from Russia. It's just nonsense' (Picture: Sputnik/Reuters)