Gurugram: Russia cannot be defeated in its war with Ukraine because Moscow retains the option of using nuclear weapons if it faces an existential threat, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov said Tuesday.
“You can’t, you know, take over us in this conflict simply because of nuclear weapons. Simply because of our nuclear weapons. We have in our doctrine that if there is existential threat to us, there is a possibility of its use,” Alipov said at the ThePrint’s Off the Cuff event in Gurugram.
The envoy, in an interaction with ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta and Defence and Diplomacy Editor Snehesh Alex Philip, dismissed the European nations’ hope for a victory by Ukraine in the war as “childish behaviour”.
He said that US President Donald Trump recognised the futility of the conflict even as European nations maintained their “craziness and unprofessional” belief that Russia could still be defeated militarily.
“Trump understands that this war is lost by Ukraine and the West. But the Europeans continue with their belligerence, with this belief of theirs that there is a chance to have another hand in this conflict. There is no chance,” he said.
The almost four-year long war has seen Ukraine receive billions of dollars in military aid and economic support from the US and its European allies, including the UK. Western nations continue to supply Kyiv with advanced weapons systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly invoked Russia’s nuclear arsenal since the conflict began in 2022. Just days ago, he oversaw military drills involving Moscow’s nuclear triad shortly after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russian energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
Russia on Sunday announced it had successfully tested the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile that Moscow claims has unlimited range. Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said the weapon flew for 15 hours and covered 14,000km during the 21 October test, according to Russian media reports. Putin first unveiled the missile in 2018, claiming it could penetrate all existing missile defence systems.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and other Russian officials have echoed the nuclear threats in recent months.
“Europe will never be secure with an insecure Russia as a neighbour, and vice versa. There is only one way—to sit and agree on a mutual security architecture and solutions,” Alipov said, highlighting the inter-dependent nature of European and Russian security.
The war has prompted the European Union to move to sever economic ties with Russia and impose extensive sanctions. However, a few member-states in the EU maintain economic and energy linkages with Moscow. The most recent US measures targeted Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, and Lukoil.
Moscow says that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s expansion and Western disregard for Russian security concerns precipitated the conflict. Alipov cited Putin’s 2007 speech at the Munich Security Conference, where the Russian leader outlined his objections to Western policy—concerns that were ignored, he said, ultimately leading to current war.
Also Read: ‘If not India, someone else will buy Russian oil,’ says Russian envoy Alipov ahead of Trump deadline