Putin: Even if Russia had sunk British warship, it wouldn't have started WW3 - US & UK know they couldn't win

RT
Wed, 30 Jun 2021 17:28 UTC

© Reuters / Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia

The British Royal Navy warship HMS Defender approaches the Black Sea port of Batumi, Georgia, June 26, 2021.

President Vladimir Putin has slammed the violation of Russian territorial waters by British warship HMS Defender as a "provocation," He also claimed that London's American allies had a hand in last week's incident, near Crimea.

However, apparently casting doubt on NATO's Article V collective defense pact, the Russian leader claimed that even if Moscow had sunk the vessel, it wouldn't have led to World War III.

According to London, the destroyer was making a peaceful passage through the territorial waters of Ukraine in accordance with international law. The UK does not recognize Crimea as part of Russia.

Speaking at his annual Direct Line call-in show, Putin revealed that a US strategic airplane took off from an airfield on the island of Crete and flew towards Russia on the morning before HMS Defender entered Russian waters.

However, despite the provocation, the two NATO members do not want a conflict, and it is not true to say that the world is now standing on the brink of a world war, he said.

"Even if we had sunk that ship, it would still be hard to imagine that the world would be on the brink of World War III," the president said. "Because those who are doing this know that they can't get out of this war victorious. That's a very important thing."

The president also pondered the exact reasons for the British provocation, noting that matters discussed at his recent summit with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, in Geneva might offer an explanation.

"Why was it necessary to make such a provocation? For what?" he asked. "To show that they have no respect for the choice of the Crimeans to join Russia?"

Putin also slammed the West for its hypocrisy, noting that Moscow had ordered its troops to move away from Ukraine's border earlier this year, after Russia had received complaints.

"We did it. But instead of reacting to it positively and saying: 'OK, we understand your reaction to our indignation,' instead, what did they do? They have come to our borders," Putin said.

Comment: Putin went on to charge that the US and UK were deliberate in the provocation:

Putin charged that the U.S. aircraft's apparent mission was to monitor the Russian military's response to the British destroyer.

"It was clearly a provocation, a complex one involving not only the British but also the Americans," he said, adding that Moscow was aware of the U.S. intentions and responded accordingly to avoid revealing sensitive data.

The Russian leader lamented that the move closely followed his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva this month.

"The world is undergoing a radical change," he said. "Our U.S. partners realize that, and that's why the Geneva meeting took place. But on the other hand, they are trying to secure their monopolist stance, resulting in threats and destructive action such as drills, provocations and sanctions."

Even though the West doesn't recognize Crimea as part of Russia, Putin said the naval incident took the controversy to a new level.

"They don't recognize something — OK, they can keep refusing to recognize it," he said. "But why conduct such provocations?"

Putin insisted Russia would firmly defend its interests.

"We are fighting for ourselves and our future on our own territory," he said. "It's not us who traveled thousands of kilometers (miles) to come to them; it's them who have come to our borders and violated our territorial waters."

Dmitri Trenin, the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, warned that last week's Black Sea incident presages a new, riskier level of confrontation.

"Fresh attempts to expose Russian 'red line' deterrence as hollow -- whether on the ground, in the air, or at sea -- would push Moscow to defend what it cannot give up without losing its self-respect," Trenin said in a commentary.

"This would almost inevitably lead to clashes and casualties, which would carry the risk of further escalation. Should this happen, Russia-NATO confrontation would deteriorate literally to the point of brinkmanship, a truly bleak scenario."