Putin outlines new rules governing Russia’s use of its vast nuclear arsenal | Nuclear Weapons News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia could respond with nuclear weapons if attacked with conventional weapons, as part of the latest changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine.

At a televised meeting of the Russian Security Council, Putin announced on Wednesday that under the planned revisions, an attack on the country by a non-nuclear power with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” would be considered a “joint attack against the Russian Federation.”

Putin stressed 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 much room for interpretation.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “this must be seen as a clear signal” to the West.

“This is a signal that warns these countries of the consequences if they participate in an attack on our country by various means, and not necessarily nuclear,” he said.

Later Thursday, the European Union rejected Putin’s decision as “reckless and irresponsible.”

“This is not the first time that Putin has played a risky role with his nuclear arsenal,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters. “We of course firmly reject these threats.”

Ukrainian factor

The Russian president is the main decision-maker regarding Russia’s nuclear arsenal and must give final approval to the text.

The move appears to significantly lower the threshold at which Russia can use atomic weapons and comes as Ukraine’s Western allies consider allowing kyiv to use longer-range weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russia, and a month after kyiv launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Putin did not directly refer to Ukraine, but said the doctrine revisions were necessary in light of a rapidly changing global landscape that has created new threats and risks for Russia.

Russia has been making slow but incremental progress in Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion of the country two and a half years ago and is trying to dissuade kyiv’s Western allies from stepping up their support.

Since launching his war, Putin has made several implicit threats of nuclear attack and suspended Russian participation in the New START treaty with the United States, which limits the number of nuclear warheads each side can deploy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western powers to ignore Russia’s threats, and his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Putin’s latest remarks were little more than blackmail.

“Russia no longer has any instruments to intimidate the world, except nuclear blackmail,” Yermak said. “These instruments will not work.”

Existing doctrine

Russia’s current nuclear doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree, states that Moscow could use its nuclear arsenal in the event of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack “when the very existence of the state is in danger.”

Russian hawks have been calling for a tougher doctrine for months, saying the current version is too vague and gives the impression that Moscow would never use nuclear weapons.

Putin stressed that the revised doctrine spelled out in more detail the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons and that they could be used in the event of a massive air attack.

“The conditions for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons are clearly spelled out” in the revisions, he said.

“We will consider such a possibility when we receive reliable information about a mass launch of air and space attack means and their crossing of our state border,” Putin added, citing “strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other flying vehicles.”

The current version of the document states that Russia would use its nuclear arsenal if “reliable information is received about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting the territory of Russia or its allies.”

Ukraine has repeatedly struck Russian territory with missiles and drones in response to Moscow’s attacks.

“Tired of making noise about nuclear power”

“Putin likely intends, through the hyper-specificity of his nuclear threats, to breathe new life into the Kremlin’s tired nuclear information operation and generate a new wave of panic among Western policymakers at a particularly critical moment in Western policy discussions about Ukraine’s ability to use Western-supplied weapons,” the Institute for the Study of War, a leading U.S.-based think tank, said in a commentary.

“Whether you think it’s a bluff or not, it’s never a good thing for a major nuclear power to relax the conditions of nuclear use in its declaratory policy,” Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at RAND, said in an article on X.

Putin also said the revised doctrine would place neighboring Belarus under Russia’s nuclear umbrella.

President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally and leader of Belarus for more than 30 years, has allowed Moscow to use his country’s territory to send troops into Ukraine. He has also authorized the Kremlin to deploy some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons there.

Russia is the world’s leading nuclear power. Together, Russia and the United States control 88% of the world’s nuclear warheads.