Putin vows to ‘knock out the teeth’ of adversaries that challenge territory

Russia will “knock out the teeth” of any foreign adversary that challenges its sovereignty over any territory it claims, President Vladimir Putin warned amid escalating tensions with America.

Putin, who made the comment Thursday while delivering televised remarks at a virtual meeting with senior officials, declined to call out any adversary or territory by name. However, his blunt threat came less than one day after his top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, clashed with his American counterpart, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, at a tense summit over the issue of the Arctic.