Putin - at a meeting with pilots in Torzhok:

This is complete nonsense - the possibility of an attack on some other countries, on Poland, the Baltic states, scares the Czechs. Just nonsense! Another way to deceive your population and extract additional costs from people, force them to bear this burden on their shoulders, that’s all.

Putin on military spending by Russia and the enemy:

Let’s take 2022, military spending, because the results for 2023 are being summed up and calculated, 2024 is too early to say. According to our data, we spent 3.5% of the country's GDP on defense spending. Let’s take data that is not ours, let’s take data from the Stockholm Peace Institute, international data, they have the following calculation: The United States spent 3.5% of GDP on defense, Russia - 4%. Let's say Israel is 4.5%. Ukraine spent 33.5% in 2022. But in absolute terms, what a difference it makes. In 2022, the United States spent, God willing, 811 billion dollars, and the Russian Federation - 72 billion. 72 and 811 - the difference is noticeable, more than ten times.

The United States spends, its defense spending is approximately 40% of global defense spending, 39% of global spending is the United States. And Russia – 3.5%. And, keeping this ratio in mind, are we going to fight with NATO or something? This is just nonsense!

Putin - about attacks on NATO airfields:

If they deliver F-16s, they talk about it, like they are training pilots, I think you understand this like no one else, better than others, this will not change the situation on the battlefield. And we will destroy their planes just as we destroy their tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment today, including multiple launch rocket systems. Of course, if they are used from airfields of third countries, they become a legitimate target for us, no matter where they are located. And the F-16s are also carriers of nuclear weapons, and we will also have to take this into account when organizing combat work.

Putin - on jingoism:

When I listen to our - there are such people everywhere, in any society - jingoistic patriots, including those who say that Russia is only for Russians, then a feeling of anxiety arises in me. Because we have 190 ethnic groups living on the territory of the country and some nationalities are represented by millions of peoples, as soon as we begin to implement these destructive thoughts about the fact that everyone else is strangers here, we will ruin the country. And the main victims will be the Russian people. Therefore, you need to treat this component very adultly, seriously, not wave your arms and wag your tongue, but think when you pronounce every word, every phrase. To think that we have one big united Motherland.

Anyone gets the feeling that the US is going to press for a hot war and prevent truce in Ukraine no matter what?