Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of trying to provoke him into using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Mr Putin made the accusation in a documentary film about his 25 years in power, local media reported.

“They wanted to provoke us; they wanted to make us make mistakes,” he said in the film.

“However, there was no need to use nuclear weapons,” he said. “And I hope this will not be necessary in the future either.”

He said Russia has sufficient forces and means to achieve everything necessary for Moscow in the war that began in 2022, the year the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin and his leadership have repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine and its allies in the course of the war.

The U.S. government was under the impression that Moscow could be preparing to drop a nuclear bomb in the autumn of 2022, according to reports.

Washington delivered a stern warning to Russia through diplomatic channels at the time.

The test attack with a new Russian medium-range missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024 is also considered a nuclear threat.

(dpa/NAN)