Putin singles out NATO bases as ‘legitimate targets’

Vladimir Putin singles out NATO bases as legitimate targets if they are used by F-16 planes for attacks in Ukraine.

The threat is condemned as “pure theater” – but other parts of his speech worry several experts.

On Wednesday, Putin visited a training center for Russian fighter pilots in Torzhok, northwest of Moscow. He inspected helicopters and missiles and got to ride a flight simulator with VR glasses.

During the stay, Putin made several new overtures against the West and NATO. Among other things, he said that Russian pilots should be given the green light to bomb Nato bases if they are given to F-16 planes for attacks in Ukraine.

– Obvious. If they are used from airfields in third countries, they become legitimate targets for us, regardless of their location, he said, according to Radio Liberty’s translation.

Expert: “Pure theatre”

The statement is seen by experts as an empty threat.

“It is pure theatre. Putin knows full well that no NATO country would allow Ukraine to use its bases for offensive F-16 missions against Russian forces. Nor would it be logical for Ukraine to do so. It becomes clear just with a quick glance at the map,” says Rajan Menon, an expert on Russian warfare at the Defense Priorities think tank, in a written comment to Newsweek.

During the visit to Torzhok, Putin also said that Russia “has no aggressive intentions” against NATO. He completely dismissed the warnings in the West that Russia might attack, for example, Poland, the Baltic countries and the Czech Republic.

– Complete nonsense, another way for them to deceive their populations and force additional resources, he said according to Radio Liberty.

Elbridge Colby, former defense adviser in the Trump administration, sees the statement as ominous.

“We should not take Putin at his word. Far from there. I think Russia is a serious threat to Eastern NATO,” he wrote on X.

Compare with 2022

The American expert group ISW makes a similar reasoning and compares it to the origins of the Ukraine war.

“Putin’s denials of Russia’s increasingly aggressive stance on NATO’s eastern flank are reminiscent of Kremlin claims in late 2021 and early 2022 that Russian forces would not invade Ukraine,” writes ISW.

The think tank also notes that Putin, during the visit to the training facility, said that Russia defends people living in Russia’s “historical territories.”

According to ISW, it opens the door for future attacks against the very countries that Putin said he wanted to spare – all within the framework of his worldview that Russia has the right to regain control of its former empire.

“It gives Putin the opportunity to consider all land areas once ruled or alleged to have been ruled by a Russian regime as Russia’s ‘historic territories’, which includes Poland and the Baltic countries,” ISW writes.

Tusk: “Don’t want to scare anyone, but…”

Politicians and experts in the West have warned in recent months that Russia could be ready for military attacks against NATO within just a few years.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council, made similar remarks when he met with journalists from some of Europe’s biggest media houses on Friday.

– I don’t want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept from the past. It is real and it started just over two years ago, he said according to the BBC.

Tusk urged Western countries to increase arms supplies to Ukraine immediately, saying the next two years “decide everything”.

– We are in the most critical moment since the end of the Second World War. Literally all scenarios are possible. I understand that it sounds terrible, especially to people of the younger generation, but we have to mentally get used to the fact that a new era is here: An era where the war is ahead.