In a televised meeting of Russia's Security Council, Putin announced that under the planned revisions, an attack against the country by a non-nuclear power with the participation or support of a nuclear power would be seen as a joint attack on the Russian Federation. The change signifies a dramatic shift in Russia's nuclear posture, heightening the potential for nuclear escalation over conventional conflicts.
Putin emphasised that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack that posed a critical threat to our sovereignty, a vague formulation that leaves broad room for interpretation. This ambiguity allows Russia to justify the use of nuclear arms in situations that could be subjectively interpreted as a threat.
The change appears to significantly lower the threshold for Russia to use atomic weapons and comes as Ukraine's Western allies consider whether to allow Kyiv to use longer-range weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russia. This context underscores the increasingly precarious balance between conventional and nuclear strategies in the ongoing conflict.
Putin did not refer to Ukraine directly, but said the revisions to the doctrine were necessary in view of a swiftly changing global landscape that had created new threats and risks for Russia. His remarks suggest a growing concern about Western support for Ukraine and the implications it may have for Russia's security calculations.
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