Putin warns Europe Russia is ready for war if the bloc starts a conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin ratcheted up tensions with Europe on Tuesday, warning that if the bloc launched a war with Russia, Moscow was prepared to meet it.

Putin also denounced European leaders, accusing them of sabotaging US-led efforts to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

“But if Europe suddenly wants to go to war with us and it starts, we will be ready immediately. There is no doubt about that,” Putin said. The Associated Press.

Putin was responding to a question about reports in the Russian media that the Hungarian Foreign Minister warned that Europe was preparing for a war with Russia. Putin emphasized, as he has done for years, that Moscow does not want war with European countries.

TRUMP: EUROPE WILL ‘TAK MUCH OF THE BURDEN’ IN PROVIDING SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE

The Russian president made the comments after speaking at an investment forum and before meeting in the Kremlin with a US delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

It is not the first time that Putin has warned Europe against interfering in the war.

In October, Putin warned that Europe would face a “significant response” if it continued to provide military aid to Ukraine, and in May he made similar threats.

In February 2024, Putin warned that Western military intervention against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear escalation – a statement widely interpreted as a warning to Europe and Western allies.

Putin claimed on Tuesday that European leaders were “introducing demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia” that were effectively “blocking the entire peace process.” He accused them of doing this cynically, to accuse Moscow of rejecting peace.

European leaders have insisted that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a springboard to a wider war with the 27-nation European Union, which has poured billions of dollars into supporting Kiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, senior adviser Jared Kushner and members of the U.S. delegation to the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on December 2, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov via Reuters)

TRUMP ADDRESSES UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE TALKS, SAYS ZELENSKYY WILL BE INVOLVED

Putin said European powers had excluded themselves from peace talks on Ukraine because they had cut off contacts with Moscow.

“They are on the side of the war,” Putin said.

He also suggested that the conflict in Ukraine was not an outright war, describing Russia’s actions as “surgical” — a limitation, he said, that he said would not apply in a direct confrontation with European powers. Reuters.

Putin’s comments come as Witkoff and Kushner push for peace between Ukraine and Russia.

On Sunday, Witkoff – a central figure in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas – joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kushner in Florida to meet with Ukrainian negotiators. Rubio described the meeting as “very productive.” In a statement, Rubio said the goal is “not just the end of the war.”

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Moscow could reject the White House peace framework if it does not uphold the “spirit and letter” of what Trump and Putin agreed at the Alaska summit in August. He said that if the “key insights” were watered down, the situation would become “fundamentally different.”

Firefighters extinguished a fire early Nov. 30, 2025, after a Russian missile struck a multi-story residential building in Vyshgorod, outside Kiev, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Despite Lavrov’s comments, Putin showed interest in Trump’s efforts to end the war and called the established plan a starting point.

“We need to sit down and discuss this seriously,” Putin told reporters, according to the AP.

He characterized Trump’s plan as “a series of issues up for discussion,” rather than a draft agreement.