Putin threatens West with 'consequences greater than any you have faced in history' if it intervenes in his invasion of Ukraine

February 24, 2022

Putin threatens West with 'consequences greater than any you have faced in history' if it intervenes in his invasion of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin seated behind a desk. — Russian President Vladimir Putin giving his speech announcing the invasion of Ukraine, February 2022
Kremlin

Putin told Western countries to keep clear as he launched an invasion of Ukraine.
On Thursday morning he said there would be historically dire consequences for those who intervened.
He also boasted about Russia's nuclear arsenal.

President Vladimir Putin issued a dire threat to Western nations on Thursday morning, saying they would face "consequences greater than any you have faced in history" if they become involved with his invasion of Ukraine.

The words were as part of Putin's speech Thursday morning, 6 a.m. Moscow time, announcing the invasion. Immediately after, the Ukrainian foreign ministry reported attacks in multiple cities.

Putin used familiar arguments to justify the attack. He framed it an act of self-defense against the eastwards expansion of NATO, and as a means of protecting Ukrainians from "nazification" and a "genocide."

Those lines have been roundly rejected by Western leaders. There is no evidence of a "genocide" in Ukraine.

In the build-up to these events, the US warned that Russia would stage false-flag operations and provocations to justify a war which it had already planned.

Putin had already ordered troops into eastern areas of Ukraine — Donetsk and Luhansk — held by separatist forces there.

This escalated on Thursday into attacks on other parts of Ukraine, which Putin said was in response to separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk requesting help. Those new attacked tipped the conflict into war.

In the speech he addressed the leaders who have aligned in opposition to the invasion.

"To anyone who would consider interfering from outside: If you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history," he said, according to Politico's translation of the speech.

"All the relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me."

His speech also alluded to the substantial nuclear arsenal he commands, noting that Russia "is today one of the most powerful nuclear powers," per Politico's translation.

Read the original article on Business Insider