Russia will formalize the revised nuclear doctrine as a warning to the West

Published on: 29/09/2024 – 14:10

1 min

The Kremlin said on Sunday that changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine had been prepared and were about to be formalized, meaning relevant documents outlining the circumstances in which nuclear weapons could be used by Moscow will be updated.

President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that under proposed changes in doctrine, Russia could use nuclear weapons if hit with conventional missiles and that it would consider any attack on it backed by a nuclear force as a joint strike.

In other words, Moscow will consider responding with nuclear weapons if the West allows Ukraine to attack inside Russia with Western long-range missiles.

Read morePutin’s Nuclear Threats: Empty Rhetoric or a Shift in Battlefield Strategy?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television reporter Pavel Zarubin on Sunday:

“The changes have been prepared and will now be formalized.”

Peskov cited the international situation, the escalating tensions near Russia’s borders and the increasing proximity of NATO infrastructure to them, and what he called the deeper involvement of Western nuclear powers in the war in Ukraine on Kiev’s side, as a background for the changes in the doctrine.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)