Putin Says He Does Not Want War With NATO Countries

Moscow has no interest in sparking a war with NATO nations, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, after U.S. President Joe Biden warned the Kremlin could move against the alliance if Western aid for Ukraine faltered.

Suggestions that Russia would mount an attack on a NATO nation are "complete nonsense," Putin told Russian state media in an interview published on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Biden told U.S. lawmakers that "if Putin takes Ukraine, he won't stop there."

"If Putin attacks a NATO ally—if he keeps going and then he attacks a NATO ally—well, we've committed as a NATO member that we'd defend every inch of NATO territory," Biden said, appealing to Republicans who are blocking further military aid to Ukraine.

The result would be a scenario "we don't seek and that we don't have today," Biden added.

Under Article 5 of NATO's treaty, an armed attack on any of the alliance's member states is deemed an assault on all. Countries like the U.S. have been cautious with military backing for Kyiv, providing aid of various types, but keen to reiterate that NATO nations are not directly involved in the war.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership, with Helsinki joining the alliance in April 2023. This doubled NATO's border with Russia and raised tensions along the alliance's eastern flank.

NATO "dragged Finland" into the alliance, Putin said in the interview broadcast on Sunday.

"It is complete nonsense, and I think President Biden understands that," Putin said of the commander in chief's remarks. Russia has no geopolitical, economic, political nor military interest in sparking a conflict with NATO countries, the Kremlin leader added.

The Russian ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, said following Biden's address that the U.S. had "lost touch with reality, easily discussing the likelihood of direct clashes between the armed forces of our countries."

"This kind of provocative rhetoric is unacceptable for a responsible nuclear power," Antonov said.

But the war in Ukraine has consistently raised fears of a confrontation between Russia and NATO, although Washington has repeatedly said it is not at war with Moscow.

Newsweek has contacted the White House via email for comment.

Ukraine has also repeatedly positioned itself as the gateway to European and NATO nations that could be potential Russian targets should Kyiv lose its fight against Moscow.

"If we fall, you will fall," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Kyiv's Western allies in the early days of the war.

On Thursday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told media that if the Kremlin's forces are victorious in Ukraine, "there is a real risk that his aggression will not end there."