Putin vows to wipe out any country that dares attack Russia with nuclear weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Friday that any country that dared attack Russia with nuclear weapons would be wiped from the face of the earth.

Putin said Russia had no mandate to launch a preventative first nuclear strike, unlike the United States, but that Russia's advanced hypersonic weapons would ensure Russia could respond forcefully if it ever came under attack.

"RUSSIA MAY HAVE TO MAKE UKRAINE DEAL ONE DAY, BUT PARTNERS CHEATED IN THE PAST"

Putin said Russia would likely have to reach agreements regarding Ukraine in the future, but felt betrayed by the breakdown of the Minsk agreements.

Putin said Germany and France - which brokered ceasefire agreements in the Belarusian capital Minsk between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 - had betrayed Russia and were now pumping Ukraine with weapons.

In an interview published in Germany's Zeit magazine on Wednesday, former German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the Minsk agreements had been an attempt to "give Ukraine time" to build up its defences.

Speaking on Friday at a news conference in Kyrgyzstan, Putin said he was "disappointed" by Merkel's comments.

PUTIN: THERE WERE SOME PROBLEMS SUPPLYING NEWLY MOBILISED TROOPS

Putin acknowledged on Friday that there had been some problems procuring equipment and clothes for the hundreds of thousands of troops Moscow has conscripted to fight in Ukraine in recent months.

At a news conference in Bishkek, he said some of the issues related to supplying the 300,000 men who were called up in a mobilization drive in September and October were now easing.

PUTIN: PROBLEMS WITH RUSSIAN FERTILISER EXPORTS REMAIN

Putin said problems related to Russia's agricultural exports remained, with some Russian fertilisers still stuck in ports in Europe.

Russia has urged the United Nations to push the West to lift some sanctions to ensure Moscow can freely export its fertilisers and agricultural products - a part of the landmark Black Sea grain deal that Moscow says has not been implemented.

PUTIN DEFENDS 8-1/2-YEAR JAIL SENTENCE FOR RUSSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN

Putin said on Friday it was wrong to question the imprisonment of opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who had been sentenced hours earlier to eight-and-a-half years in prison for disseminating "fake information" about Russia's armed forces.

"Who is Yashin?" Putin asked at first, when a reporter asked him to comment on the court ruling, before saying it was wrong to doubt a court's decision.