The Kremlin warned Thursday that President Vladimir Putin’s revisions to Russia’s nuclear weapons doctrine should serve as a clear message to Western nations – any involvement in attacks on Russia will have consequences.
On Wednesday, Putin stated that Russia might resort to nuclear weapons if struck by missiles and would treat any attack supported by a nuclear power as a collective strike against Moscow.
The shift in Russia’s nuclear policy is a direct response to discussions in the U.S. and U.K. over whether to allow Ukraine to launch Western conventional missiles into Russian territory.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said adjustments to a document called “The Foundations of State Policy in the Sphere of Nuclear Deterrence” had been formulated.
Asked by reporters if the changes were a signal to the West, Peskov said: “This should be considered a definite signal.”
“This is a signal that warns these countries about the consequences if they participate in an attack on our country by various means, and not necessarily nuclear ones,” Peskov said.
The world, Peskov said, is witnessing an “unprecedented confrontation” provoked by the “direct involvement of Western countries, including nuclear powers,” in the Ukrainian war.
Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Moscow is attempting to intimidate alliance members.
“Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and reckless,” Stoltenberg said at the Council on Foreign Relations. “We are closely watching what Russia is doing.”
Peskov said a decision on whether to publish the nuclear documents would be made later.
Russia’s current published nuclear doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree by Putin, states 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.
When asked if rejecting a post-Soviet moratorium on nuclear tests had been discussed as part of the changes, Peskov said he could not answer, as Wednesday’s meeting was mostly top secret.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Putin’s comments “totally irresponsible.”
“I think many in the world have spoken clearly about that when he’s been rattling the nuclear saber – including China, in the past,” Blinken said in an interview with MSNBC Thursday.
