Putin lowers threshold of nuclear response as he issues new warnings to the West over Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin says any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country
MOSCOW (AP) — In a strong, new warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.
The threat, outlined in a revision of Moscow’s nuclear doctrine, was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council that considered changes in the doctrine, Putin announced that a revised version of the document states that an attack against his country by a nonnuclear power with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” will be seen as their “joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
Putin didn’t specify whether the modified document envisages a nuclear response to such an attack, but he emphasized that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack posing a “critical threat to our sovereignty,” a vague formulation that leaves broad room for interpretation.
