Vladimir Putin has said Russia would consider an attack from a non-nuclear state that was backed by a nuclear-armed one to be a “joint attack” in what could be construed as a threat to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
In key remarks yesterday night, the Russian president said his government was considering changing the rules and preconditions around which Russia would use its nuclear arsenal.
Ukraine is a non-nuclear state that receives military support from the US and other nuclear-armed countries. His comments came as Kyiv seeks approval to use long-range Western missiles against military sites in Russia.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has travelled to the US this week and is due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington today, where Kyiv’s request is expected to be top of the agenda.
Ukraine has pushed into Russian territory this year and wants to target bases inside Russia which it says are sending missiles into Ukraine.
Responding to Putin’s remarks, Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Russia “no longer has anything other than nuclear blackmail to intimidate the world”.
Putin has threatened the use of nuclear weapons before. Ukraine has criticised it as “nuclear sabre-rattling” to deter its allies from providing further support.
Russian ally China has also called for calm, with reports President Xi Jinping has warned Putin against using nuclear arms. But yesterday, after a meeting with his Security Council, Putin announced the proposed radical expansion.
A new nuclear doctrine would “clearly set the conditions for Russia to transition to using nuclear weapons,” he warned – and said such scenarios included conventional missile strikes against Moscow.
He said Russia would consider such a “possibility” of using nuclear weapons if it detected the start of a massive launch of missiles, aircraft and drones into its territory, which presented a “critical threat” to the country’s sovereignty.
He added: “It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation.” The country’s nuclear arms are “the most important guarantee of security of our state and its citizens”, the Kremlin leader said.
