MOSCOW Reuters —President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.
The 71-year-old Kremlin chief, the primary decision-maker on Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal, said he wanted to underscore one key change in particular.
Russia reserved the right to also use nuclear weapons if it or ally Belarus were the subject of aggression, including by conventional weapons, Putin said.
Putin said the clarifications were carefully calibrated and commensurate with the modern military threats facing Russia – confirmation that the nuclear doctrine was changing.
Russia’s current published nuclear doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree by Putin, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.
Persons:
Vladimir Putin, Putin, ” Putin, Bill Burns, Volodymyr Zelensky, Kyiv’s, Zelensky, ” Andriy Yermak, Joe Biden, Donald Trump
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