Putin mouthpiece says nuclear weapons would be ‘good’ for Russia

A Putin ally has set out a 25-year vision for Russia that includes using nuclear weapons to secure what he calls a ‘good’ outcome.

Konstantin Malofeev, founder of Orthodox media network Tsargrad, made his comments while presenting a Russia 2050 report at the Petersburg International Economic Forum.

He predicted three possible outcomes:

• Good: Russia ‘obtaining a clear image of victory in the ideological war’ using nuclear weapons, annexing major Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv, and seeing the European Union fall
• Bad: Russia losing the war in Ukraine and being colonised
• Status quo: American or Chinese dominance and Russia potentially using nuclear weapons within the next decade

Malofeev has been a vocal supporter of the annexation of Crimea and funded efforts to destabilise Ukraine, including backing Russia’s 2014 campaign against the country.

He was joined by co-author Alexander Dugin who told the summit that the report had been presented to the Ministry of Defence.

Both men face sanctions from the UK, US and EU.

In its first couple of days, the summit, dubbed Putin’s Davos, has highlighted two competing schools of thought in Russia.

Some want the country to continue fighting and prepare for global confrontation with the West. Others have highlighted the economic benefits to be reaped from ending the war.

However, the conference was overshadowed when Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal and naval base in St Petersburg.

Several prominent figures in Russia have tried in the past to warn Putin about the economic consequences of the war.

Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s go-between with the Trump administration, has been touting the potential economic benefits of a peace deal.

‘The question is: does this war end or do we stare into a much tougher future?’ one Russian participant told Reuters.

Putin says Moscow does not intend to attack NATO, whose member states’ combined economies dwarf that of Russia, even though it is the world’s biggest supplier of natural resources.

But Mr Dugin, whose daughter Darya was killed in a 2022 car bomb that Moscow blamed on Ukraine, said the war in Ukraine ‘will end either with Russia’s victory or it will never end.’

He said: ‘We need to gather all our strength, gather all of our will and stop pretending that we are a peaceful country that goes off to barbecues or summer vacations.’

Dugin said Russia would not attack the West. But, asked to sum up Russia’s relations with the West in the coming years, he said simply: ‘War.’