Putin says Western sanctions are a “declaration of war”

Putin has claimed that the Western sanctions against Russia are a “declaration of war”.

Speaking on state television, President Putin said that Russia wanted Ukraine to be “demilitarised”, “de-nazified” and neutral.

He said that the sanctions were “methods of fighting against Russia”.

“These sanctions that you can see are equivalent to declaring a war,” he said. “Thankfully it has not come to an actual war but we understand what these threats are about.”

He went on to say that everything was going according to plan in Ukraine and that the Russian army would “meet its objectives”.

Putin also warned that Russia would consider any declaration of a no-fly zone over the country by any third party as “participation in the armed conflict”.

He denied reports that there were conscripts in Ukraine, claiming that only professional soldiers were involved. It is reported about a third of the Russian army are conscripts, but it is uncertain how many of them have been sent to Ukraine.

Putin also stated that there was “currently no need” for martial law or a state of emergency in Russia.

These statements come after the Kremlin condemned the West’s response and argued that the world is “too big” for the US and Europe to isolate Russia.

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