Article content

President Vladimir Putin privately said he could invade Poland, Romania and the Baltic states, according to a record of a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart.

“If I wanted, in two days I could have Russian troops not only in Kyiv, but also in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Warsaw and Bucharest,” Mr. Putin allegedly told President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, reported Suddeustche Zeitung, a German newspaper.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Vladimir Putin threatened to invade NATO nations in alleged conversation with Ukraine's president Back to video

If true, this would be the first time Mr. Putin has referred to invading NATO or European Union members. Any serious threat to send Russian troops into the capitals of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Romania would cause grave alarm among Western leaders.

All five countries mentioned in this alleged conversation are covered by the security guarantee in Article V of NATO’s founding treaty, which states that “an attack on one is an attack on all.” In Tallinn earlier this month, President Barack Obama confirmed NATO’s commitment to this doctrine.

Mr. Putin’s alleged threat bears similarities to remarks he made to Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, in which he warned: “If I want to, I can take Kyiv in two weeks.”

The EU recently announced more sanctions against Russia, focusing on the energy, financial and arms sectors. NATO has agreed to form a rapid-reaction force in response to fears of a Russian threat, and stepped up air patrols over the Baltic.