The Kremlin has announced that it is expanding its doctrine on the use of its nuclear weapons. The announcement is primarily aimed at Ukraine’s Western partners, who are currently debating in New York over the delivery of long-range missiles to Kiev for Russian territory.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is responding to the tense international situation with this move. The Russian list of military threats against which nuclear weapons can be used as a deterrent has been expanded, Putin said Wednesday during a meeting of the National Security Council in the Kremlin in Moscow.
Putin raises stakes for West
The new doctrine increases the risk, especially for Western nuclear powers such as the US and France, of becoming the target of a Russian counterattack if they support nuclear-free Ukraine in an aggression against Russia.
Putin literally said: “I would like to draw your attention to something else: the updated version of the document proposes that aggression against Russia by a non-nuclear-weapon state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear-weapon state, should be considered as a joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
Kiev wants to aim Western weapons at Russia
The Kremlin has released a video of Putin’s speech at the start of the Security Council panel meeting on nuclear deterrence. His announcement comes at an inopportune time for Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently discussing with allies the opening of Russian territory to Western long-range missiles during the UN general debate in New York.
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During his war, Putin had repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons and had also put the arsenal on high alert. Russia has long discussed changing its nuclear doctrine in light of the West’s arms deliveries to Ukraine. The possibility of a preemptive strike was always discussed.
So far, the doctrine allows the use of nuclear weapons only if there is a threat to Russian sovereignty. Putin stressed that Russia has always dealt responsibly with the issue of nuclear weapons.
Source: Krone

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