September 25 () –
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that the country’s nuclear doctrine will be revamped, which will “correct current approaches” by updating and expanding the type and origin of threats to which Moscow will respond with nuclear weapons.
This new doctrine has been expanded to include “states and military alliances” against which “nuclear containment” is applied, and the “list of military threats” has also been updated, which will also be responded to with “nuclear containment actions,” according to TASS.
“We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Russia and Belarus as a member of the State Union,” said the Russian president, who assured that this issue has already been discussed with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko.
The new criteria go beyond nuclear threats against Moscow, with President Putin stressing that a nuclear response would be justified “even if the enemy, using conventional weapons, creates a critical threat” to Russian sovereignty. An attack by a “non-nuclear state” supported by a nuclear state would also be considered a “joint attack on Russia.”
As for Russia, Putin stressed that the first aspect to be taken into account in this nuclear doctrine is the fact that “the use of nuclear forces is an extreme measure to protect the health of the country’s sovereignty”, a “responsible” approach to which Moscow must continue to adhere.
He also stressed that the so-called Russian “nuclear triad” “remains the most important guarantee of state security.” Russia divides its atomic arsenal into land-based missiles, projectiles carried by strategic bombers and ballistic missiles carried by nuclear submarines.
“We see that the modern military-political situation is changing dynamically and we are obliged to take this into account, including the emergence of new sources of threats and military risks for Russia and our allies,” Putin argued, emphasizing the need to adapt nuclear doctrine to “current realities.”
Russia acknowledged months ago that it had already begun to renew its military and nuclear doctrine due to changes in the international situation, especially the war in Ukraine. These changes are the result of a “deep analysis” carried out by the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Russian bodies on “the need to correct” current approaches.
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