Putin swipes again at Trump for calling Russia a ‘paper tiger’

By Vladimir Soldatkin

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin swiped again on Thursday at U.S. President Donald Trump for calling Russia a “paper tiger” and mentioned Moscow would reply swiftly if it thinks Europe is scary it.

Trump, who had beforehand mentioned Kyiv ought to quit land to make peace with Moscow, reversed his rhetoric sharply final week, saying he thought Ukraine might win again all territory from Russia, and labelling Moscow a “paper tiger”. He repeated the road this week.

Putin, talking on the Valdai Dialogue Group within the Black Sea resort of Sochi, mentioned Russian forces had been advancing alongside all the entrance in Ukraine, and that nearly the entire U.S.-led NATO alliance was now preventing in opposition to Russia.

“A paper tiger. What follows then? Go and take care of this paper tiger,” Putin mentioned. “Properly if we’re preventing with all the NATO bloc, we’re shifting, advancing, and we really feel assured, and we’re a ‘paper tiger’, then what’s NATO itself?”

“If anybody nonetheless has a want to compete with us within the navy sphere, as we are saying, be at liberty, allow them to attempt,” Putin mentioned. “Russia’s countermeasures is not going to be lengthy in coming.”

‘COOL DOWN, SLEEP CALMLY,’ PUTIN TELLS NATO

NATO members, he mentioned, had been offering Ukraine with intelligence, weapons and coaching, and whipping up what he forged as hysteria about alleged plans of Russia to assault a NATO member, which he dismissed as “unimaginable to imagine”.

“I simply need to say: settle down, sleep calmly, and deal with your personal issues. Simply check out what’s occurring on the streets of European cities,” Putin mentioned.

Putin mentioned Ukraine’s armed forces had a grave lack of manpower and desertions, whereas Russia had sufficient troopers. He advised that Kyiv ought to negotiate an finish to the struggle.

Russia, he mentioned, managed nearly all of Luhansk province, about 81% of the Donetsk area, and about 75% of each Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas. Moscow claimed in 2022 to have annexed the 4 areas, and says it is not going to finish the struggle till Ukraine withdraws from them fully.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Reuters in Moscow; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; modifying by Man Faulconbridge/Mark Trevelyan/Andrew Osborn)