// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Putin warns West that Russia is ready to use every weapon to protect Kaliningrad
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will use all weapons at his disposal if it considers its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to have come under direct attack.
The Russian president insisted that Moscow was "not threatening anyone" and merely responding to statements by Western leaders that it was preparing for war in 2029 or 2030.
Throughout this week, Russia has accused Nato of preparing to blockade its territory, which borders Lithuania and Poland, warning that it would even be prepared to use nuclear weapons if the West tried to cut off Kaliningrad from the rest of Russia.
Nato has sought to calm the situation, stressing that it was a defensive alliance and urging Moscow to stop its "nuclear threats".
Western allies have faced a surge in so-called hybrid warfare incidents blamed on Russia, particularly in Poland and the Baltics in recent months.
Last week alone, Poland said a Russian helicopter had strayed into its territory adjacent to Kaliningrad and Lithuania said its population felt "constantly threatened" by Russia, in part because of drones entering the nation's airspace.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that his country was preparing for further hybrid attacks, "including serious ones", after a drone armed with explosives was found in August on the tarmac at Leipzig airport close to Ukrainian cargo planes.
Rosenberg: Putin shows no sign of stopping the war as Russia doubles down on Ukraine
In a wide-ranging speech at the Valdai foreign policy forum, Putin told his audience that he believed that international conflicts were highly likely to continue, but would get better as "Western hegemony" weakened.
Although the Russian leader himself began the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, he again blamed the West for provoking the invasion, arguing that Moscow had simply been forced to defend itself and take up arms.