State media quoted a Russian foreign minister saying Russia would make changes to its nuclear weapons doctrine in response to Western escalation in Ukraine, Reuters said.
“The work is at an advanced stage, and there is a clear intent to make corrections,” state news agency TASS quoted deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov saying Sunday.
The current doctrine says that among other circumstances Russia can use nuclear weapons in either a nuclear attack by an “enemy” or a conventional attack that threatens Russia’s existence, TASS said.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden (D) reportedly approved a new nuclear strategy in March for the U.S. that would account for the trajectory of “adversary arsenals,” including that of Russia and China. That document may become declassified by the end of Biden’s term.