President Vladimir Putin hailed new missiles in Russia’s military arsenals but emphasized Thursday that the country would only use its nuclear weapons in response to an incoming missile attack, AP reported.

He voiced confidence that Russia could resist Western pressure and expressed hope that U.S. President Donald Trump eventually would move to repair fractured ties with Russia.

Speaking at an international policy forum in Sochi, Putin noted that Russia’s military doctrine doesn’t envisage a preventative nuclear strike. He said Moscow only would tap its nuclear arsenal if early warning systems spotted missiles heading toward Russia.

“Only when we become convinced that there is an incoming attack on the territory of Russia, and that happens within seconds, only after that we would launch a retaliatory strike,” he said during a panel discussion at the forum.

“It would naturally mean a global catastrophe, but I want to emphasize that we can’t be those who initiate it because we don’t foresee a preventive strike,” Putin said. “The aggressor should know that retaliation is inevitable, and he will be destroyed.”

“We would be victims of an aggression and would get to heaven as martyrs,” while those who initiated the aggression would “just die and not even have time to repent,” he added.

The Russian leader also warned that new hypersonic missiles his country developed give it a military edge.