Russian President, Vladimir Putin has sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent characterization of Russia as a “paper tiger,” turning the criticism back on the NATO alliance.
Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Group in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday, Putin addressed Trump’s comments, which were made on social media last week following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Trump had asserted that with European support, Ukraine could win back all of its territory and called Russia a “paper tiger” for fighting a war “aimlessly” for three and a half years, which he claimed “should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.”
In his rebuttal, Putin questioned the intent of Trump’s remark, saying he did not know if the U.S. President was being “ironic.”
“A paper tiger. What follows then? Go and deal with this paper tiger,” Putin said. “Well if we are fighting with the entire NATO bloc, we are moving, advancing, and we feel confident, and we are a ‘paper tiger,’ then what is NATO itself?”
Putin insisted that Russian forces were advancing along the entire front in Ukraine and claimed that almost the entire U.S.-led NATO alliance was now fighting against Russia, providing Ukraine with intelligence, weapons, and training.
The Russian President concluded with a warning to the West, stating that if any nation wished to compete with Russia in the military sphere, they should “feel free, let them try,” and cautioned that Russia’s countermeasures “will not be long in coming” if it perceives Europe is provoking Moscow.
