Russia’s competitive advantage lies in the fact that no other country has the same means of destruction as it does, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the 23rd meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

Russia understands that in the event of a direct attack by NATO countries, "the enemy will be twice as large in terms of numbers. This is a major economic potential, a major military potential. Yes, we won’t have enough forces and resources to counter this threat," Putin said, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

"And we will have to use our competitive advantages in this struggle. What are they? The point is that we have these competitive advantages in terms of means to defend ourselves. Yes, of course, France and the United Kingdom are nuclear powers; we understand that perfectly well and are fully aware of it, but no one else has the types of weapons of destruction that Russia has today. And that is our competitive advantage."

"And how do we resist the aggressor?" Putin continued. "We’re not threatening anyone. We’re simply saying that we don’t have that many tools to defend ourselves."

Commenting on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s letter on protection of the Kaliningrad Region, the head of state clarified: "It doesn’t mention the use of nuclear weapons. It mentions the use of all the forces and means at our country’s disposal. And we’ll decide what that will be."