Addressing the growing tensions publicly for the first time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United States is using Ukraine “as a tool” to draw Russia into a war in the region to weaken Russia’s growing strength, the BBC reports.
Putin has said the build up of Russian troops along its border with Ukraine is due to Ukraine’s desire to join NATO, a direct foe of Russia. Putin describes Russia’s actions as reasonable to the threat from a NATO-aligned Ukraine to regional stability.
“Imagine that Ukraine is a Nato member and a military operation [to regain Crimea] begins,” the Russian leader said to reporters after having a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister and Tucker Carlson’s sugar daddy Viktor Orban. “What – are we going to fight with Nato? Has anyone thought about this? It seems like they haven’t.”