With the diminishing impact of the Moscow nuclear threat, on Wednesday (September 25), Russian President Putin issued a new strong warning to the West, stating that the country will expand its nuclear policy, declaring that any conventional attack on Russia supported by nuclear-armed countries will be seen as a joint attack on Russia.
This point was outlined in the revised version of the Moscow nuclear doctrine, which significantly lowers the threshold for Russia to use nuclear weapons, apparently aiming to deter Western countries from allowing Ukraine to launch attacks against Russia using long-range weapons.
During a meeting of the Russian Security Council on nuclear deterrence, Putin stated that the revised nuclear policy stipulates that attacks on Russia by non-nuclear states with the “participation or support” of nuclear-armed countries will be considered a “joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
Putin said, the revised version “clearly defines the conditions under which Russia will use nuclear weapons.” He further noted that if Moscow detects a large number of fighter jets, cruise missiles, drones, and other weapons crossing the border, the option of using nuclear weapons will be considered.
Putin emphasized that the work on the revised policy has been ongoing for a year, stating that the “nuclear triad remains the most important guarantee for national and civilian security, as well as a tool to maintain world strategic balance and equilibrium of power.”
He also mentioned that if Russia or its ally Belarus faces aggression, including with conventional weapons, Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons. He added that he has reached an agreement on this issue with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for over 30 years, has relied on Russian subsidies and support. He has allowed Russia to deploy troops through its territory to Ukraine and to station some tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its third year, with the Kremlin and Ukraine still deadlocked on the battlefield, the Kremlin is seeking to prevent the West from providing further support to Kyiv.
Putin elaborated on Russia’s current nuclear policy in a decree issued in 2020, stating that Russia might use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack or conventional attack threatening the country’s survival.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin and other senior Kremlin officials have frequently used nuclear threats against the West to deter increased support for Kyiv.
Hawks in Russia have been calling for a strengthened policy, criticizing the current version as too vague and weak to prevent Western assistance to Ukraine, leading to the impression that Moscow would never use nuclear weapons.
Previously, Putin warned the United States and other NATO countries that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range weapons to attack Russian territory would lead to war between Russia and NATO.
According to CIA Director William Burns, the Biden administration in 2022 was deeply concerned about Russia’s potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, warning Putin of the serious consequences of using such weapons.
Last September, Yale historian Timothy Snyder published an article pointing out that Russia’s escalation of nuclear threats is just a propaganda strategy, with diminishing effectiveness. He urged the US and NATO to provide as much additional support as possible to help Ukraine achieve military victory.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has been urging Western allies for months to allow Ukraine to launch Western missiles deep into Russian territory, including US long-range missiles and UK’s “Storm Shadow” missiles, to weaken Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.
Zelensky also called on Western countries to cross and ignore Russia’s so-called “red lines,” with some allies urging the US to do so. The Biden administration stated that it has not yet approved Kyiv to use US weapons to launch attacks on Russia’s depth zones.
Zelensky’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, stated, “Apart from nuclear threats, Russia no longer has any tools to intimidate the whole world… these tools will not work.”
(This article references relevant reports from the Associated Press and Reuters.)