“My choice would be Britain and Germany,” he said, answering a question about which countries could become the target of a nuclear attack from the Russian Federation. “I pray to the Almighty that this does not happen. But Germany should be first, because Germany is the source of the worst in European history.”
According to Karaganov, if Putin is killed by Ukrainians or Europeans, Europe “will be erased from the map of humanity.”
“It should be erased from the geopolitical and geostrategic map because it is an annoying nuisance,” he added.
Context
Nine states in the world have nuclear weapons – the USA, the aggressor country Russia, Great Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. Almost 90% of all nuclear weapons are in the Russian Federation (5580 nuclear warheads) and the USA (3748 warheads).
In March 2024, Putin said that from a military-technical point of view, Russia is ready for a nuclear war, and its strategic forces are “constantly on alert.”.
On February 24, 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron assured that France is ready to use its nuclear deterrent to defend Europe. Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas responded that France's ability to guarantee a “nuclear umbrella” for Europe is currently “weak,” although he called the idea “interesting.”
