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Vladimir Putin has a strong warning for the West: Russia will consider using nuclear weapons if attacked by any other country.
For months Ukraine has been hoping to launch strikes into Russian territory using Western missiles in an attempt to turn the tide in their ongoing war.
The UK and US have not allowed Ukraine to carry out these missile strikes using weaponry they have provided – and Putin has given the West another reason to be cautious.
Speaking with Russia’s security council yesterday, Putin said he would ‘consider’ using nuclear weapons if the Kremlin received ‘reliable information’ about a ‘massive’ launch of missiles, aircraft or drones against them.
He also said any nuclear power supporting another country’s attack on Russia would be considered a participant in the aggression – a thinly veiled threat to Western countries considering whether to allow Ukraine to use their long-range weapons.
Putin made the comments while announcing changes to the country’s nuclear deterrence policy, saying they are in line with the threats facing Russia.
The current policy was set out in 2020, but influential figures in foreign policy have been pressing the Russian president to adopt a more assertive nuclear stance towards the West, to deter more direct military support for Ukraine.
Putin said: ‘The use of nuclear forces is an extreme measure for the defence of a country’s sovereignty.
‘We see the modern military and political situation is dynamically changing and we must take this into consideration, including the emergence of new sources of military threats and risks for Russia and our allies.
‘The updated version of the document proposes that aggression against Russia by any 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.
‘We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Russia and Belarus as a member of the Union State.
‘All these issues have been agreed upon with the president of Belarus.
‘This includes cases where the enemy, using conventional weapons, poses a critical threat to our sovereignty.’
Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, dismissed Russia’s latest nuclear doctrine as ‘nuclear blackmail’, the Guardian reports.
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