President Vladimir Putin issued a stark warning to the West on Wednesday, stating that Russia might resort to using nuclear weapons if it were targeted by conventional missiles. He also emphasized that Moscow would treat any attack on Russia, if backed by a nuclear-armed nation, as a joint assault.
This shift in Russia’s nuclear policy is a direct response to ongoing discussions in the United States and Britain about potentially allowing Ukraine to use Western conventional missiles against Russia.
During a meeting of Russia’s Security Council, Putin explained that the changes were prompted by a rapidly evolving global landscape, introducing new threats and risks for Russia.
The 71-year-old leader, who holds ultimate control over Russia’s nuclear arsenal, highlighted one significant modification in particular: “It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered a joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
Putin added that the conditions for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons were clearly defined. This would include cases where Moscow detects the launch of a large-scale missile, aircraft, or drone attack. He also reaffirmed Russia’s right to use nuclear weapons in response to aggression against itself or its ally, Belarus, even if the attack involves conventional weapons.
The revisions to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, according to Putin, were carefully calibrated to reflect modern military threats. This marks a significant update to Russia’s existing nuclear policy, which was outlined in a 2020 decree stating that nuclear weapons would be used in response to a nuclear strike or a conventional attack that jeopardizes the existence of the Russian state.
The updates include broadening the range of threats under which Russia would consider a nuclear strike, extending nuclear protection to Belarus, and treating any support from a nuclear power for conventional attacks on Russia as an attack by the nuclear power itself.
In 2022, the United States was reportedly so alarmed by the possibility of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons that it warned Putin of the consequences, according to CIA Director Bill Burns.
The conflict in Ukraine, now in its third year, has led to the most severe confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urging Western allies to allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory using long-range missiles such as U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows. With Russian forces making advances in eastern Ukraine, the war is entering what Russian officials describe as its most dangerous phase.
While Zelenskyy has pushed for the West to disregard Russia’s so-called “red lines,” Putin has warned that such actions could lead to a global conflict. In response to Putin’s nuclear rhetoric, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, remarked, “Russia no longer has any instruments to intimidate the world apart from nuclear blackmail. These instruments will not work.”
Both Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden have acknowledged the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO escalating into a world war, a concern echoed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who warned of the dangers of nuclear conflict.
Russia, possessing the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, controls 88% of the world’s nuclear warheads together with the United States.
Putin concluded his address to the Security Council, a body comprising his most powerful officials, by emphasizing the importance of Russia’s nuclear triad as a key guarantor of national security and global strategic parity.
He reiterated that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons if it received credible information about the massive launch of aerospace attack vehicles, including strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, or hypersonic weapons.
