Just days after announcing military exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of the rising risk of a global conflict.
Speaking on Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to mark Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II -- a ceremony shunned by Western leaders but attended by the heads of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau -- Putin criticized the West for being "arrogant" and warned that Russia "will not allow anyone to threaten us."
The Russian leader, who was inaugurated for a fifth time on May 7, has used such rhetoric before to justify his full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. He says the West has used Ukraine to interfere in what is an area traditionally part of Russia's sphere of influence.
Kyiv and the West, which has backed Ukraine with military equipment and financial aid, say the war is simply a move by Putin to take land it once ruled over during the Soviet era.
In 2014, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine's Crimea, taking control of it through a referendum deemed illegitimate, while since February 2022, Moscow has also claimed four regions inside Ukraine, meaning it now controls just a bit less than one-fifth of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory.
SEE ALSO: Belarus Says It's Checking Preparedness Of Its Tactical Nuclear ForcesRussia's Defense Ministry on May 6 announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons for the first time since it launched its aggression against Ukraine more than two years ago.
Russia said it was running the military exercises because of "unprecedented" and "provocative" statements from Britain and France that Moscow said showed their growing involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Putin said on May 9 that there was "nothing unusual" about the exercises, which the European Union has called a "continuation of Russia's irresponsible behavior."
A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the move was further "proof that the Kremlin is only interested in further escalating the situation which was caused by its illegal aggression against Ukraine."
Belarus, where Russia currently locates some of its tactical nuclear weapons, said it will check the preparedness of its nuclear forces as well.