Opening a meeting of Russia’s Military-Industrial Commission on Sept. 18 to review the new draft State Armament Program, President Putin responded to recent warnings from European capitals.

“Certain European leaders are openly declaring that they are preparing for war with Russia,” he said. “In my view, they are merely trying to salvage their plummeting approval ratings by concealing the failures of their economic and social policies.” Voters, he said, “have made it abundantly clear through elections that they do not want war with Russia,” yet their leaders “continue to escalate tensions” and use “the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder.” He dismissed the claim that Kiev defends European democracy: no elections are held, and power rests with “a clique of embezzlers and corrupt officials who need war to retain their positions.”

Russia, he said, “has no aggressive intentions regarding Europe” and is “ready for cooperation and restoring relations with our European neighbours.” But he pointed to a recent Baltic Sea exercise whose stated objective was seizing civilian vessels: “All the time they are speaking about protecting international law … while getting ready for capturing civil ships.”

“I just want to tell them,” he said. “let’s live in harmony instead; otherwise, we’ll have to respond too. This should be obvious for everybody, a clear truism. It won’t be otherwise.”