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| Putin Shows Off New Weapons, and Warns U.S. and Europe, Too | |
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| MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin used his annual state of the nation speech on Thursday to threaten Western nations with a battery of new weapons including an intercontinental nuclear cruise missile and to assure Russians that their lives would improve through enormous new social spending. | MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin used his annual state of the nation speech on Thursday to threaten Western nations with a battery of new weapons including an intercontinental nuclear cruise missile and to assure Russians that their lives would improve through enormous new social spending. |
| The guns-and-butter speech came 17 days before the March 18 presidential election. It seemed intended to reassure ordinary Russians that a huge increase in social spending would help salve the economic problems of the past four years, while also evoking traditional fears that Russia could be invaded at any minute. | The guns-and-butter speech came 17 days before the March 18 presidential election. It seemed intended to reassure ordinary Russians that a huge increase in social spending would help salve the economic problems of the past four years, while also evoking traditional fears that Russia could be invaded at any minute. |
| Gleb O. Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former Kremlin consultant, wrote on Facebook that, “From tales about progress, the speech flowed into an open-ended declaration of world war.” | Gleb O. Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former Kremlin consultant, wrote on Facebook that, “From tales about progress, the speech flowed into an open-ended declaration of world war.” |
| In the last third of the speech, Mr. Putin used giant screens to introduce what he said were about half a dozen new weapons developed by Russia, telling Europe and the United States that he was prepared to use them and even traditional nuclear arms if Russia were attacked. | In the last third of the speech, Mr. Putin used giant screens to introduce what he said were about half a dozen new weapons developed by Russia, telling Europe and the United States that he was prepared to use them and even traditional nuclear arms if Russia were attacked. |
| “We would consider any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies to be a nuclear attack on our country,” Mr. Putin said. “The response would be immediate.” | “We would consider any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies to be a nuclear attack on our country,” Mr. Putin said. “The response would be immediate.” |
| Mr. Putin said that Russia had tested various new nuclear weapons, including a nuclear-powered missile that could reach virtually anywhere in the world and that could not be intercepted by existing antiballistic missile systems. | Mr. Putin said that Russia had tested various new nuclear weapons, including a nuclear-powered missile that could reach virtually anywhere in the world and that could not be intercepted by existing antiballistic missile systems. |
| A video illustrating the weapon, which he said was tested at the end of 2017, showed it leaving Russia, slaloming around obstacles in the South Atlantic, before rounding Cape Horn at the tip of South America and heading toward the west coast of the United States. | A video illustrating the weapon, which he said was tested at the end of 2017, showed it leaving Russia, slaloming around obstacles in the South Atlantic, before rounding Cape Horn at the tip of South America and heading toward the west coast of the United States. |
| Mr. Putin’s address was delivered at the Manege, an old Czarist riding school just outside the Kremlin walls that is now an exhibition space. The speech had been moved from the Kremlin, the traditional venue, to accommodate the giant screens used to illustrate a rosy future of generous social spending and the videos of the new weapons. | Mr. Putin’s address was delivered at the Manege, an old Czarist riding school just outside the Kremlin walls that is now an exhibition space. The speech had been moved from the Kremlin, the traditional venue, to accommodate the giant screens used to illustrate a rosy future of generous social spending and the videos of the new weapons. |
| It was also moved from December, when Mr. Putin has given his past state of the nation speeches, to March to coincide with the presidential election that he is assured of winning. | It was also moved from December, when Mr. Putin has given his past state of the nation speeches, to March to coincide with the presidential election that he is assured of winning. |