1 week ago
17
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
President Vladimir V. Putin lashed out at “European elites” for “whipping up the hysteria” about the “Russian threat.”
Oct. 2, 2025, 3:59 p.m. ET
President Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday said that Russia had no plans to invade NATO countries, amid alarm over confirmed and suspected Russian drone incursions from Poland to Denmark in recent weeks.
After the airspace violations, some European leaders have said that the continent has entered its most perilous moment in decades. NATO nations are moving to beef up aerial defenses that they believe Russia has been probing for weaknesses.
Speaking at an international relations conference in Russia’s southwest, Mr. Putin lashed out at “European elites” for “whipping up the hysteria” about the “Russian threat.”
“It looks as if a war with the Russians is just around the corner: They keep repeating this mantra over and over again,” he said in televised remarks.
“This is something impossible to believe,” Mr. Putin added. “I’d like to tell them: Calm down, sleep tight and, finally, deal with your own issues.” Later, he insisted that Moscow had “no aggressive intentions regarding other countries.”
More than three years ago, as Russia massed troops near the border with Ukraine, Mr. Putin denied that he was planning an invasion. On Thursday, he painted NATO countries as the aggressors, suggesting that their support for Kyiv in the war that followed meant that the Western alliance was at war with Russia.
