Russia 'Ready' if Europe wants war, Putin threatens to cut off Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia was “ready” for war if Europe sought one, accusing European leaders of trying to sabotage a deal on the Ukraine conflict before he met with US envoys. "We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now," Putin told reporters in Moscow. "They have no peaceful agenda, they are on the side of war," he added, repeating his claim that European leaders were hindering US attempts to broker peace in Ukraine. He added that European changes to Trump's latest plan to end the war "aimed solely at one thing -- to completely block the entire peace process and put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia".

‘If Europe — all of a sudden — wants to start a war and if it does start a war, then, very rapidly, there might be a situation where we have no one to negotiate with’

Watch Putin’s full warning to hotheads in the EU and NATO https://t.co/95Wr13PNUT pic.twitter.com/zGsDppy5Q2

— RT (@RT_com) December 2, 2025

Putin also threatened to "cut off Ukraine from sea," after Kyiv's underwater drone strike on two tankers of Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Black Sea last week. "The most radical way to stop these actions would be to cut Ukraine off from the sea," Putin said as reported by TASS. Putin further termed Ukrainian attacks as "piracy" and stated that Russia will consider "retaliatory measures" against "ships from countries" that are supporting Ukraine's piracy.

On Friday and Saturday, Ukrainian underwater drones struck two Russian tankers. A security source confirmed that Sea Baby maritime drones were used in a joint operation involving Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and its navy. According to the Ukrainian source, both tankers suffered critical damage and were effectively knocked out of operation. "This will deal a significant blow to the transportation of Russian oil," the source said.