Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would respond to any direct attack on the Russian Federation with 'all weapons' at its disposal.
At a foreign policy forum, Putin said the warning could apply to Kaliningrad or 'maybe some other territories.' He did not specify whether Moscow would use nuclear weapons, but said Russia has arms that 'no one else has' and would decide which to use if attacked.
The remarks followed a new round of warnings centered on Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave between NATO members Poland and Lithuania. Russian embassies in Europe said Moscow had information that NATO was preparing an air and naval blockade of the region. The embassy in Ireland said Russia would be ready to use 'all its arsenal, including nuclear weapons,' if NATO countries tried to isolate Kaliningrad.
Putin accused the West and Europe of escalating tensions by speaking about war planning, holding Baltic Sea drills and seizing Russian vessels. He told the Valdai Club forum that the issue was not intimidation, but 'a response to an attempt to intimidate us.'
NATO pushed back. Spokesperson Allison Hart said the alliance strongly denounced 'the threat of force, including any irresponsible nuclear rhetoric.' She said NATO is a defensive alliance and that none of its activities or exercises pose a risk to any part of Russia.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the bloc told Moscow to stop the nuclear threat and called it 'absolutely not called for and not helpful.' NATO also urged Russia to stop its 'unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine,' now in its fifth year.
Kaliningrad matters because it is home to Russia's main Baltic navy base and other military assets, including nuclear-capable Iskander missiles. Western military officers have said key installations there would likely be a first target if Russia ever attacked a NATO ally.
NATO allies have stepped up exercises in the Baltic Sea region in recent months, and more are planned in October. The alliance launched Operation Baltic Sentry there last year to protect communication cables and pipelines. On Aug. 18, NATO held an exercise over northern Poland and the Baltic region involving several aircraft, including an EA-37B Compass Call, a U.S. plane that can jam communications and radar.
European leaders and intelligence services have warned that Russia could be ready to strike another country within a few years, especially if it wins its war in Ukraine. Rutte said the answer is to keep support for Kyiv going.
The market lesson is blunt: capital hates strategic ambiguity, and taxpayers eventually pay for every round of military brinkmanship. When nuclear rhetoric enters the frame, the cost is not abstract; it is measured in higher risk, higher defense spending and less room for productive investment.
