Putin agitates for nuclear power, 'troops on the Finnish border' - Europe. Putin: 'We are ready to use atomic weapons, but only if threatened' (ANSA) Russia has nuclear weapons that are even "more advanced" than the United States, says Putin.
The presence of NATO military contingents in Ukraine "will not change the situation on the battlefield, any more than the supply of weapons" to Kiev, the Russian president said. Moscow used a decidedly more peaceful tone when addressing Pope Francis, to whom Putin sent a message of good wishes for the eleventh anniversary of his election to the papacy.