Vladimir Putin vows quick response if Europe provokes Russia

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia will quickly respond should Europe provoke Moscow, amid what he called a militarisation of the continent driven by hysteria. But he said he had no intention of attacking the U.S.-led NATO alliance.

"If anyone still has a desire to compete with us in the military sphere, as we say, feel free, let them try," Putin told the Valdai Discussion Group in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. "Russia's countermeasures will not be long in coming."

Russia, Putin said, had shown through the centuries that it would respond quickly if provoked, and mentioned specifically Germany's ambition to have the most powerful army in Europe.

"The elites of united Europe continue to whip up hysteria," Putin said. "It turns out that war with the Russians is almost on the threshold. They repeat this nonsense, this mantra over and over again."

Putin dismissed the idea that Russia would one day attack a member of the NATO military alliance as "impossible to believe".

"Genuinely, I just want to say: cool down, sleep calmly, and take care of your own problems. Just take a look at what's happening on the streets of European cities," Putin said.