Putin: Russia preparing for war, but wants peace

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia in its relations with the West follows the adage to prepare for war if it wants peace,

He made the statement in an interview with Rossiya 1 television, TASS reports.

He was responding to a request from the host of the television program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin." to comment on a recent recommendation by a US Congress panel for the US to prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China that could include the engagement of nuclear weapons.

"I don't think these are healthy thoughts that came to the minds of healthy people, because to say that the US is preparing for war with Russia, well... We are all preparing for war because we follow the well-known ancient principle: If you want peace, prepare for war. But we act on the assumption that we want peace," Putin said.