Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that a direct conflict between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance would mean the planet is just one step away from World War III. But he also said that few people want this to happen.

The war in Ukraine triggered the worst crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has frequently warned of the risk of nuclear war but said he had never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last month he would not rule out future ground troop deployments in Ukraine, a move that many Western countries have distanced themselves from while others, particularly in Eastern Europe, have expressed support.

Asked by Reuters about Macron’s comments and the risks and possibilities of conflict between Russia and Nato, Putin quipped, “In the modern world anything is possible.”

“Everyone knows that this is one step away from a full-scale World War III. I think almost no one is interested in that,” Putin told reporters after winning the biggest landslide victory in post-Soviet Russia’s history.

But Putin added that NATO military personnel were already present in Ukraine and said Russia had learned to use English and French on the battlefield.

“It’s not going to do them any good in the first place because they’re dying there in large numbers,” he said.

buffer

Ahead of the Russian presidential election from March 15 to 17, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia, shelling border areas and even using proxies to try to breach the Russian border.

When asked whether he considered it necessary to occupy Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Putin said that if the attacks continued, Russia would establish a buffer zone on more Ukrainian territory to defend Russian territory.

“Given the tragic events that occurred today, I do not rule out that when we deem it appropriate, we will be forced to create certain ‘sanitary zones’ on the territories under the Kiev regime,” Putin said.

He declined to give further details but said such an area would likely have to be large enough to prevent foreign-made weapons from entering Russian territory.

Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a major European war. The conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies has lasted for eight years.

Putin said he hoped Macron would stop seeking to intensify the war in Ukraine and instead play a role in seeking peace: “It looks like France has a role to play. All is not lost yet.”

“I have said it over and over again and I will say it again. We support peace talks, but not just because the enemy has run out of bullets,” Putin said.

“If they really, seriously want to have long-term peace and good-neighborly relations between the two countries, rather than simply taking a break of 1.5-2 years to rearm.”

american democracy

Putin dismissed U.S. and Western criticism of the election, which the White House called unfree and unfair, calling the U.S. election undemocratic and criticizing the U.S. for using state power against Donald Trump.

“The whole world is laughing at what is happening there,” Putin said of the United States. “This is just a disaster – this is not democracy – what is this?”

When asked about the fate of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died of unknown causes in a Russian Arctic prison on February 16, Putin said it was only the first time he had used Navalny’s name in public ” died”.

Putin said he agreed to exchange Navalny days before his death.

Reuters reported in February that a prisoner exchange agreement was reached shortly before Navalny’s death.

“I said: ‘I agree,’” Putin said of his approval of the prisoner exchange. “I have one condition – we trade him, but he never comes back.”

Navalny’s widow, Yulia, has accused Putin of killing her husband.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that this statement was completely false.