Russia Alone Is Fighting Entire NATO Bloc: Putin Slams Trump Over ‘Paper Tiger’ Remark

Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded sharply to United States (US) President Donald Trump’s description of Moscow as a “paper tiger,” warning that any move by Washington to supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would trigger a dangerous new escalation in the war.

Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Group in Sochi, Putin insisted Russian forces were “advancing along the entire front” in Ukraine and dismissed western assessments of his military as weak. “A paper tiger. What follows then? Go and deal with this paper tiger,” he said. “Well if we are fighting with the entire NATO bloc, we are moving, advancing, and we feel confident, and we are a ‘paper tiger’, then what is NATO itself?”

What is Putin’s message to NATO?

Putin argued that almost all NATO members were already engaged against Russia by providing Kyiv with weapons, intelligence, and training. He dismissed warnings that Moscow might attack a NATO member as “impossible to believe” and told western leaders to “cool down, sleep calmly, and take care of your own problems”.

He also mocked European accusations that Russian drones had crossed into NATO airspace, joking that Moscow did not have drones capable of reaching Lisbon. European officials have accused Russia of repeated violations, including incursions over Poland and Estonia.

Why are Tomahawks a red line?

The most serious part of Putin’s intervention came with his warning on US-supplied cruise missiles. “It is impossible to use Tomahawks without the direct participation of American military personnel,” he said. “This will mean a completely new, qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the United States.”

Washington has not announced any decision to provide the missiles, but Moscow has portrayed the possibility as a step that would pull US forces directly into the conflict.

How does Russia see the war?

Putin portrayed the conflict as a turning point in Russia’s confrontation with the West, which he accused of humiliating Moscow after the fall of the Soviet Union by enlarging NATO and encroaching on its sphere of influence. He claimed Russian forces now controlled most of Luhansk, three-quarters of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and more than 80% of Donetsk.

Western governments, by contrast, describe the war as an imperial land grab and argue that Russia must be defeated to prevent further aggression. Trump, who last year had urged Kyiv to cede land for peace, has recently reversed his stance, telling supporters he believed Ukraine could recover all occupied territory.

Putin insisted Kyiv’s forces were short of manpower and suffering desertions, and suggested Ukraine should negotiate an end to the war. “If anyone still has a desire to compete with us in the military sphere, as we say, feel free, let them try,” he said. “Russia’s countermeasures will not be long in coming.”