Vladimir Putin has spoken out about Russia’s alleged plans to attack Europe as World War III fears intensify.

The fear of all-out war has been escalating in recent months, from tensions in the Middle East boiling over between Iran and Israel to Russia’s ongoing occupation of Ukraine and President Donald Trump’s failing attempts to calm the storm.

While Putin and Trump came face-to-face only recently in a historic meeting, a ceasefire of any kind seems far from the realms of possibility and the POTUS isn’t exactly on the best of terms with Moscow’s leaders, having embroiled in a war of words online with the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, which ultimately saw US forces deploy nuclear submarines.

Now, Putin is currently enjoying himself at a military parade in Beijing, China, following a warm welcome from XI Jinping, who referred to him as an ‘old friend’ – a nod of respect that probably won’t extend to Trump anytime soon amid his trade war and tariff plan for China.

Putin also praised relations with China, stating their ties are at an ‘unprecedentedly high level.’ As a result, European nations have since been concerned that a Russian attack on the continent could be imminent.

Hospitals across France were reportedly instructed to brace for a possible ‘major military deployment’ by March 2026, while Germany said it is on alert for military drills just yesterday.

However, Putin has waved away the concerns, speaking alongside the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, who claims that claims of an attack from Moscow on Europe were a ‘provocation or incompetence’.

The Russian leader also said that it was ‘absolute nonsense’ that there were plans to strike deeper in Europe and to target NATO, slamming the response from the EU as ‘hysteria’ based on ‘horror stories.’

“As for ‘Russia’s aggressive plans with respect to Europe’, I want to emphasise once again that this is complete nonsense, which has absolutely no basis,” he said.

“Any sensible person realises that Russia has never had, does not have, and will not have the desire to attack anyone.”

The supposed reassurance comes as the French government reportedly predicts a situation where the nation could face an influx of wounded soldiers.

However, the French Health Minister, Catherine Vautrin, said the precautions are ‘perfectly normal for the country to anticipate crises and their consequences’, citing the Covid-19 pandemic as an example.

Germany’s Chief of Defence, Carsten Breuer, also stated that NATO and his country’s forces are on alert ahead of Russia’s upcoming military drills.

Although Brueuer said he doesn’t anticipate Putin would attack NATO territory, as Russia has a military training base in Belarus, Germany would ‘be on guard.’

Putin also addressed the matter of Ukraine possibly joining the European Union, stating he has ‘never objected to this.’

However, he added: “As for NATO, this is another issue.”