Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would respond if Western countries launched aggression against Russia. She noted that President Vladimir Putin had already warned about such a scenario on multiple occasions.

Speaking at a briefing, Zakharova said that if aggression came from Western Europe or the European Union as a group of states, Russia would respond. She pointed to previous statements by the Russian president for an indication of what that response could involve.

At the same time, Zakharova stressed that Russia is not threatening anyone and has no plans to go to war with Western European countries.

Earlier, Martin Jaeger, head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, warned that Berlin could become involved in a possible armed confrontation with Moscow. In his assessment, relations between Russia and Germany have entered a «new and more dangerous phase.»

Putin has also previously said that Moscow has no intention of attacking NATO countries and sees no reason to do so. In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, he argued that Western politicians use claims about a Russian threat to divert public attention from domestic problems.