Putin: We are not in a hurry, but we are ready for nuclear war

(Patria) - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia is technically ready for nuclear war and that if the US sends troops to Ukraine, it will consider it a significant escalation of the war.

Putin, speaking just days before the March 15-17 election, which will surely give him another six years in power, said the scenario of nuclear war is not something to be "rushed" and that he sees no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

"From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready," Putin (71) told Rossiya-1 television and the RIA news agency, responding to a question about whether the country is truly ready for nuclear war.

Putin said the US understands that Russia, if it deploys US troops on Russian territory – or in Ukraine – will treat that move as an intervention.

"There are enough specialists in the United States in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic deterrence," Putin said.

"Therefore, I don't think everything is rushing towards this (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for it," he added.