Putin says Russia is ready for war with Europe if attacked

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to fight a war with Europe if attacked and accused the continent’s leaders of trying to sabotage peace efforts, calling recent proposed changes to a US peace plan for Ukraine “absolutely unacceptable.”

This comes after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has said he had some optimism around peace efforts due to the speed of the process and the US’s interest in finding a solution.

“A little bit [of] optimism was in my words because of some speed of negotiations, and from the American side, their interest in it. It showed that America is not withdrawing now from any kind of diplomatic way of dialogue and it is good,” the Ukrainian said on a visit to Dublin.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin today in Moscow. But ahead of the meeting, Putin dismissed European peace proposals and said Russia was ready for a war, if Europe wants one.

Russia also claims to have taken control of the key eastern city of Pokrovsk, which Ukraine denies. It appears that Putin is drawing a line in the sand over what he will deem as on the table for a possible peace deal, and will posture by saying that Russia is ready for war with the entire continent of Europe.

While much of what Putin is doing is posturing in hopes of getting Europe and the US to blink, this conflict is existential for Russia, and they definitely could engage in a conflict with NATO in certain situations.

Therefore, while it is important not to let Putin’s words make the US and Europe back down, they cannot be dismissed as having absolutely no possibility of being backed up.