President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Saturday upped his rhetoric by describing the Western sanctions imposed against Russia since his military invasion of Ukraine as “akin to a declaration of war,” and warning that Ukraine might lose its statehood if its leaders continued to resist his military invasion of the country.
“The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he said at a meeting in Moscow on Saturday, in his first extended remarks since the start of the war. “If that happens,” he said, “they will have to be blamed for that.”
He made the comments during a meeting with female flight attendants from Russian airlines before International Women’s Day, which will be marked on Tuesday. Mr. Putin has often used such choreographed events to make high-profile statements.
In the remarks, Mr. Putin appeared to outline his military tactics, while threatening that any no-fly zone, as Ukrainian officials have called for in recent days, would have devastating consequences.
“Warehouses with weapons and ammunition, aviation, air defense systems — it takes time to destroy air defense systems,” the Russian leader said. “This work is practically done — that’s why there are demands to impose a no-fly zone. The realization of that demand would bring catastrophic results not only to Europe, but to the whole world.”
NATO leaders have resisted the calls for a no-fly zone, worried that implementing one could lead to a larger war.
Indeed, Mr. Putin suggested that such a measure could broaden the conflict.
“We hear calls to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine,” he said. “It is impossible to do from Ukrainian territory — it can only be done from the territory of other states. But any moves in such direction will be seen by us as participation in an armed conflict by the country that will create threats to our servicemen.”
He reiterated his earlier points about the need to protect the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine’s East against nationalists and to avert Ukraine’s NATO accession.
He said that Russia was ready to withstand the sanctions imposed on his country since he began the invasion of Ukraine — calling the penalties “akin to a declaration of war” — and that Moscow’s demands had been made clear to the Ukrainians.
“Our proposals are on the table with the group of negotiators from Kyiv,” he said. “Hopefully, they will respond positively to that.”
Although rumors have swirled through Russia in recent days of impending martial law, conscription and closed borders because of the war, Mr. Putin stressed that Russia did not plan to impose martial law unless there was aggression against Russian territory.
He also vowed that conscription would not be an issue.
“Only professional military servicemen take part in this operation, officers and contract soldiers,” Mr. Putin said. “Not a single conscript takes part in it, and we don’t plan to send them there.”
And he expressed full confidence in his military’s ability to succeed in its task.
“Our army will solve all tasks — I don’t doubt it for a second,” Mr. Putin said. “This is confirmed by how the operation is ongoing. Everything is being done according to a plan, as the General Staff planned it.”
