'Not bluffing': Putin threatens to use 'all means' to reply to West's 'nuclear blackmail'

In a stern warning to the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced that he would use "all means" available with Russia and warned that those attempting to use nuclear blackmail against Moscow can see that the tables can be turned against them. Issuing the threat to the West, he asserted that  "I’m not bluffing", adding that he has "lots of weapons" to respond to nuclear blackmail. The Russian President accused the West of initiating a war against Russia in Ukraine in 2014.  

Putin announces partial mobilization in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a partial mobilization in Russia,  a day after Russian-occupied regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced their plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia. In his address to the nation, the Kremlin leader announced that he has signed a decree on the partial mobilisation and it will take effect on Wednesday, 21 September. 

Putin announced that the only citizens who are part of the reserve will be "subject to conscription" and people who have served in the armed forces have military capabilities and experience. He stated that the decision of partial mobilization was "fully adequate to the threats" faced by Russia and to protect their homeland "its sovereignty and territorial integrity" and "to ensure the security of our people and people in the liberated territories." Kremlin will offer full support to the referendums announced by Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia on their accession to Russia, he said.

"We are talking about partial mobilization, that is, only citizens who are currently in the reserve will be subject to conscription, and above all, those who served in the armed forces have a certain military specialty and relevant experience," Putin stated during the national address. 

West aims to 'weaken & destroy Russia'

Putin claimed that the West aims to "weaken, divide and eventually destroy" Russia, adding that the West has declared that they succeeded in splitting the Soviet Union in 1991 and "now the time has come for Russia itself." According to Putin, the West used "Russophobia" their weapon and deliberately nurtured hatred for Russia. In his address to the nation, Putin said, "They made total Russophobia their weapon, including for decades they purposefully nurtured hatred for Russia, primarily in Ukraine, which they prepared for the fate of an anti-Russian foothold, and the Ukrainian people themselves were turned into cannon fodder and pushed to war with our country, unleashing it - this war - back in 2014, using the armed forces against the civilian population, organizing genocide, blockade, terror against people who refused to recognize the power that arose in Ukraine as a result of a coup."

"The purpose of this West is to weaken, divide and eventually destroy our country. They are already directly saying that in 1991 they were able to split the Soviet Union, and now the time has come for Russia itself, that it should break up into many mortally hostile regions and regions," Putin said. 

Inputs from AP

Image: AP