Putin defused the situation on the Valdai, speaking about the rocket: "Not Oreshkin, but Oreshnik"

Speaking at a meeting of the Valdai Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Many modern high-tech weapon systems have appeared in Russia.

"Well, take the same "Hazel", — said the president.

After a pause, he joked: "Not Oreshkin, but Oreshnik.

"Oreshnik" is a Russian missile system and a medium—range ballistic missile of the same name, the name of which Putin first pronounced on November 21, 2024 after a missile strike on the Dnieper.

Speaking about the American long-range Tomahawk missiles, the Russian president noted that "this is a powerful weapon."

"True, it is no longer quite modern, but it is powerful and a threat," he said.

According to him, the transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine will lead to a "qualitatively new" stage of escalation in relations between Russia and the United States.

"Will it damage a relationship in which there is some light at the end of the tunnel? Of course, it will. It is impossible to use Tomahawk without the direct participation of the US military," the president said.

"Can Tomahawk damage us? They can. We will shoot them down, we will improve our air defense system," Putin stated.

"Of course, it will not change, it will not change the ratio on the battlefield in any way. I have already said: the fundamental problems of the armed forces of Ukraine, no matter how many of them you saturate with drones, no matter how many seemingly insurmountable lines of defense you create with the help of drones, it doesn't matter if there are no personnel, there is no one to fight," the Russian leader noted.

He recalled that the United States had previously supplied Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles, which caused "some damage," but the Russian military learned how to shoot them down.