Russia revises its nuclear doctrine to discourage Western nations from backing Ukraine, warning of severe consequences for involvement.
MOSCOW — The Kremlin has said that the recent changes to Russia’s nuclear rules are meant to stop Western friends of Ukraine from backing attacks on Russia.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that these updates, made by President Vladimir Putin, are a big “warning” to these countries about what could happen if they get involved in or back attacks on Russian land.
In a direct speech on Wednesday, Putin made it clear that any attack on Russia, especially one with nuclear weapons, would be seen as a fight against the country.
This warning, part of a new nuclear policy, is all about making the Kremlin’s point that it wants Western countries to stop giving Ukraine weapons that can hit Russian areas, making it harder for Russia to use its nuclear weapons.
During a Security Council meeting talking about the changes to the nuclear rules, Putin didn’t say if these changes meant Russia would use nuclear weapons against a regular attack.
However, he did say that Russia might use nuclear weapons if any attack threatened Russia’s “sovereignty,” which is a bit of a vague statement that leaves a lot of room for what that could mean.
🤡 Kremlin claims change in nuclear doctrine is signal to "unfriendly countries" about consequences https://t.co/KDq6vJPHzn
— Ukrainska Pravda in English (@pravda_eng) September 26, 2024
As the Ukraine war goes on for three years, Russia has slowly taken back some land, while the Kremlin is trying to make it harder for Western countries to back Ukraine.
Ukrainians have been hitting Russian areas back with missile and drone attacks in response to attacks from Moscow, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushing the U.S. and other countries to let Ukraine use longer-range weapons to hit Russia harder. The Biden administration has said no to that.
Putin highlighted that the new rules make it clearer when Russia might use nuclear weapons, saying they could be used against a big air attack.
This new wording suggests that Russia is ready to think about using nuclear weapons even for attacks in the air, a tricky move to make the West think twice about letting Ukraine hit Russia with longer weapons.
Since starting the military campaign in Ukraine in 2022, Putin has kept warning Western countries about Russia’s nuclear weapons, saying these threats are to stop Western support for Ukraine.
Just this month, he told the U.S. and NATO countries that letting Ukraine use Western weapons to hit Russian targets could make things worse and could lead to a direct fight between Russia and NATO.
