Russia ready to use nuclear arsenal

(Vatican Radio) Russia's President Vladimir Putin has warned that his nation, backed by its nuclear arsenal, will meet any aggression, at a time of the biggest East-West confrontation since the Cold War over fighting in Ukraine. Putin's comments came while the European Union considered more sanctions against Russia to punish it for military incursions into Ukraine and supporting pro-Russian separatists, who prepare to move further in a new front. Amid the tensions, the United Nations accused all sides in the conflict of human rights violations. 

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

Speaking at a pro-Kremlin youth camp, Putin made clear to the West that, in his words, "It's best not to mess" with Russia. At what appeared a highly choreographed gathering with young people, the Russian leader said he wanted to remind everyone "that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers" and that he thanked God that no one is thinking of unleashing a large-scale conflict with Russia yet. 

His remarks followed international outrage over what Kiev and European Union foreign ministers have called "a Russian invasion" in eastern Ukraine. The NATO military alliance counted at least 1,000 fresh Russian troops in Ukraine in recent days to allegedly back-up pro-Russian separatists. 

Putin blamed the current crisis on Ukraine's government, saying its troops act like those involved in the famed Nazi siege of Soviet city Leningrad during World War Two. 

WORLD WAR TWO

“Unfortunately it reminds me of the events of World War Two, when German fascist occupiers surrounded our cities, for example Leningrad, and they executed the population of the villages,” he told youngsters who posed what appeared to be scripted questions.  

However, the United Nations human rights office said in a new report that both pro-Russian forces and Ukrainian government forces have been involved in deliberately targeting civilians and other war crimes.

The UN said while the separatists carried out atrocities, such as murders, torture, and abductions, Ukraine's military was guilty of acts such as arbitrary detentions, disappearances as well as torture.      

In Russia, questions are being raised by families of Russian servicemen about unexplained deaths and missing or captured soldiers, a development analysts say could eventually harm public support for Putin's policies.    

NEW FRONT OPENED

Friday's UN report came while pro-Russian forces planned to move westward to the major port city of Mariupol, after capturing the resort town of Novoazovsk. They have opened a new front apparently aimed at linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed earlier this year. 

Angered about Moscow's role in the conflict, EU foreign ministers met in Milan to discuss tougher sanctions  against Russia ahead of an EU heads-of-states summit Saturday. Russia has responded by banning fruit and other products from EU nations, prompting Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Tomasz Sikorski to hand out apples to journalists.     

“Polish apples. President Putin says they are poisonous but I assure you they are very good … Polish apples, very good,” he ensured reporters.  

But for now there's the bitter taste of war in Ukraine that the UN says has killed 2,600 people, prompting Ukraine's government to propose membership of the NATO military alliance. NATO has stepped up its presence around Russia, including in Poland, which on Friday banned Russia's defence minister from flying over its airspace, forcing his plane to return to Slovakia. 

The aircraft was later allowed to fly over Poland after changing its status from military into civilian, but the incident was condemned by Moscow.