Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged a “significant” response to “Europe’s militarisation” and says the hysteria around his country potentially attacking NATO is “nonsense”.

“They can’t believe what they’re saying, that Russia is going to attack NATO,” he said on Thursday at a foreign policy forum in the southern resort city of Sochi. “They’re either incredibly incompetent if they truly believe it because it’s impossible to believe this nonsense, or they’re simply dishonest.”

Putin expressed frustration over Europe’s military build-up, noting that he is monitoring the trend, and warned that retaliatory measures would be swift.

“In Germany, for example, it is said that the German army should become the strongest in Europe. Very well. We hear that and are watching to see what is meant by it,” Putin said.

“Russia will never show weakness or indecisiveness,” Putin added. “We simply cannot ignore what is happening.”

Relations between Russia and the European Union have spiralled downwards since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, leading the bloc to bolster its defence.

Drones flying over Denmark and aerial incursions from Moscow in Estonia and Poland have heightened fears that Russia’s war could spill over Ukraine’s borders.

Ukrainian officials and some NATO allies have claimed that Russia’s incursions into other countries’ airspace are deliberate. But Moscow has denied the allegations and said European powers are levying baseless accusations.

He accused Europe of stoking “hysteria” to justify rising military spending and said Russia wasn’t a threat.

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“Just calm down,” the Russian president said.

‘Trump is a person who can listen’

He said European countries, through their policy of “constant escalation”, are responsible for the failure to achieve peace in Ukraine.

“All NATO countries are fighting us, and they’re no longer hiding it,” he said, adding that they are “actually taking part in combat operations” through a centre that transmits intelligence and supplies weapons.

In his remarks on Thursday, Putin also lauded United States President Donald Trump, saying the two of them had discussed a settlement to the war in Ukraine and the restoration of ties between their countries during the Alaska summit in August.

“Trump is a person who can listen,” Putin said. The US president has been trying to bring an end to the war in Ukraine since he returned to office in January.

Moscow has so far shown no willingness to compromise in negotiations with Ukraine and continues to insist on its demands, including that Kyiv renounce NATO membership and abandon territory.

Meanwhile, Putin warned Ukraine that it was playing a dangerous game by striking the area near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and suggested Moscow could retaliate against nuclear plants controlled by Ukraine.

The nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, has been cut off from external power for more than a week and is being cooled by emergency diesel generators. Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for cutting off the external power and for shelling the area.

“They still have functional nuclear power plants on their side. What prevents us from responding in kind? Let them think about this,” Putin said.

He said it was idiotic to blame Russia for shelling a nuclear power station that it controlled and said the situation around the plant was on the whole “under control”.