Russia changes nuclear doctrine in warning against Western ‘aggression’

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said Wednesday the federation changed its nuclear doctrine, specifically by adding new adversary actions to the list of things that warrant a nuclear response from the Kremlin, according to a video posted by state media.

“Aggression by a non-nuclear-weapon state, but with participation or support of a nuclear state, would be considered as their joint attack on Russia,” Putin said in a meeting with his Security Council recorded by state media network RuNews.

According to AP, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that these revisions laid out by Putin are a “warning signal to those countries about the consequences in case of their involvement in an attack on our country with various assets, not necessarily nuclear ones.”

This video appeared a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with a delegation from the U.S. Congress, according to Zelenskyy’s website. Zelenskyy planned to present a “victory plan” to Congress, President Joe Biden (D), and both presidential candidates this week.

“This is a very specific plan on how to strengthen Ukraine without any decisions or pressure from Russia,” Zelenskyy said to the delegation.

Putin said he wanted to make “clarifications” on determining conditions for using nuclear weapons. He said any crossing of Russian borders or into Belarus using strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft, would give Russia the “right” to use nuclear weapons.

Russian news agency TASS had quoted Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov early in September alluding to Russia changing its nuclear doctrine in response to Western activity in Ukraine. According to the current doctrine, without the changes Putin mentioned, Russia can use nuclear weapons in either a nuclear attack by an “enemy” or a conventional attack that threatens Russia’s existence, according to TASS.

“Even the enemy using conventional weapons poses a critical threat to our sovereignty,” Putin said in RuNews’ video.