President Vladimir Putin cautioned the West on Wednesday that Russia might resort to nuclear weapons if it were attacked with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would view any assault backed by a nuclear power as a joint attack. His decision to alter Russia's official nuclear doctrine serves as the Kremlin's response to discussions in the United States and Britain regarding whether to authorize Ukraine to launch conventional Western missiles into Russia.
Putin, addressing a meeting of Russia's Security Council, explained that the changes were prompted by a rapidly evolving global landscape that has introduced new threats and risks for Russia. The 71-year-old Kremlin leader, who holds the primary authority over Russia's extensive nuclear arsenal, emphasized a significant modification in the doctrine.
"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," Putin stated. He also noted that the conditions for Russia's transition to using nuclear weapons were clearly defined, including the detection of a massive launch of missiles, aircraft, or drones against it.
Russia reserved the right to use nuclear weapons if it or its ally Belarus were subjected to aggression, including by conventional means. Putin asserted that these clarifications were meticulously calibrated and aligned with the contemporary military threats facing Russia, signaling a shift in the nuclear doctrine.
The ongoing Ukraine war has sparked the most severe confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging Kyiv's allies to allow Ukraine to fire Western missiles, such as the long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, deep into Russia to curtail Moscow's offensive capabilities.
As Ukraine loses key towns to advancing Russian forces in the east, the war is entering what Russian officials describe as the most perilous phase to date. Russia currently controls just under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and has warned the West of the risks of a global conflict.
Putin, who portrays the West as a decadent aggressor, and U.S. President Joe Biden, who characterizes Russia as a corrupt autocracy and Putin as a killer, have both cautioned that a direct Russia-NATO confrontation could escalate into World War Three. Russia is the world's largest nuclear power, and together with the U.S., they control 88% of the world's nuclear warheads.
In his address to Russia's Security Council, comprising Putin's most influential officials, Putin revealed that work on amending the doctrine had been ongoing for the past year. "The list of military threats has been supplemented," Putin said, detailing that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons upon receiving reliable information about a massive launch of aerospace attack vehicles crossing its state border, including strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic, and other aircraft.
