Russia has nuclear weapons that are even "more advanced" than the United States and, if necessary, "from a military-technical point of view we are ready" to use them.
The warning, launched by Vladimir Putin in an interview on state television, is accompanied by a reference to Moscow's military doctrine, which allows the use of such weapons only as a response to threats to the "existence" of the State or its "sovereignty and independence".
And from the addition of never having thought of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine in 2022, denying news circulating in the USA.
Video Putin: 'From a military point of view we are ready for a nuclear war'
A reassurance that does not entirely convince our Western neighbors.
Especially since Putin has announced that he wants to deploy his troops along the border with Finland, which has just joined NATO together with Sweden.
"An absolutely meaningless step for the two countries from the point of view of protecting their national interests", said the head of the Kremlin, because "we had no troops there and now they will be there, there were no destruction systems and now will appear."
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo responded by underlining that his country will work on "strengthening defense and strengthening borders", which he defined as "fundamental pillars".
"No one here is afraid of you", echoed the Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda, commenting on the attack suffered in his country by Leonid Volkov, former right-hand man of the Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in detention.
At the end of a bilateral meeting with Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening in Paris, Nauseda said that we need to "seriously consider the idea of sending troops to Ukraine".
A hypothesis recently aired by the French president and to which Putin returned in his interview.
Video Putin: 'NATO troops in Ukraine would not change the situation'
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.
Who then added that he believes Washington's assurances that it will not send soldiers to fight, because President Joe Biden "is a man, a representative of the traditional political school".
However, he warned, "states that say they have no red lines toward Russia must understand that Russia will have no red lines toward them."
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.
In making this known, the embassy to the Holy See defined the Pontiff as "a true and honest defender of peace", who in an interview on Swiss television had invited Kiev to have "the courage of the white flag" to start negotiations.
The Pope, added the diplomatic office, is "one of the few leaders with an honest strategic vision of world problems".
The Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) has meanwhile given the green light to the Ukraine Assistance Facility (UAF) to provide urgent military aid to Kiev.
The measure is worth 5 billion euros for 2024 and provides for the possibility of purchasing weapons - and obtaining reimbursements from the fund - on the international market if the European industry is not able to quickly process orders.
Meanwhile, Moscow has announced that it has intercepted another 58 Ukrainian drones launched on its territory between last night and this morning, and that two oil refineries were hit: one in Riazan, where the governor reported a fire and the wounding of some people, and one in Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov-on-Don region, which was forced to suspend activity.
But the head of Kiev's armed forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said the situation on the battlefield was "difficult" and that Russian forces could be ready to strike deep into Ukrainian lines in the eastern Donetsk region.
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