Putin Says "No Winners in Nuclear War"

Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and such a war should never be started, according to a statement released by the Kremlin on Monday.

"As a state party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and one of its depositaries, Russia is consistently complying with the letter and the spirit of the Treaty," Putin said in a letter to participants of a conference on the treaty in New York.

"We proceed from the fact that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed, and we stand for equal and inpisible security for all members of the world community,” Putin stressed.

In the same vein, Putin reiterated that anti-Russian sanctions do not reflect the realities of global politics and the economy.

"I have already said that these decisions were made by Western countries for the sake of political interests - the current, opportunistic ones that do not reflect the realities either in global politics or the global economy," he noted.

The Russian leader added that western politicians who imposed sanctions against Moscow simply "threw away" the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"[Western] politicians are not interested in ordinary citizens' diminishing well-being and quality of life, particularly in Europe. Not to mention such things as adherence to the principles of the World Trade Organization - they were simply thrown away," he concluded.