Russia will upgrade its nuclear arsenal as it is a primary guarantor of national security, President Vladimir Putin revealed on Friday.
The comment comes amid growing tensions between Moscow and the West over the Ukraine conflict, as the US and its allies continue to arm Kiev while claiming not to be party to the conflict.
Putin has warned that Russia would use all means available to defend itself should the state's existence be at stake. Citing the need to send the West a message, the Kremlin last month ordered the military to carry out drills in deploying non-strategic nuclear weapons.
“We plan to further develop the nuclear triad as a guarantee of strategic deterrence and to preserve the balance of power in the world,” Putin said on Friday at a meeting of graduates from military institutions.
The ‘nuclear triad’ refers to the combination of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers, which can all carry nuclear payloads. These weapons systems ensure that a potential enemy cannot destroy a nation’s nuclear forces in a first-strike attack.
Putin warned this week that the strategic defeat sought by the West would mean “the end” of Russian statehood, though he added that he believes that defeating Russia is impossible due to the unity of its people.
Such a threat, however, warrants Russia going “all the way” to achieve its goals in Ukraine, he added.
Putin has repeatedly said that any conflict involving the use of nuclear weapons would have dire consequences for humanity. In early June, he said that Russia was “not brandishing” nuclear weapons and expressed hope that “it will never come” to a nuclear exchange between Moscow and the West.
Russia’s nuclear doctrine states that such weapons can only be used in the face of a “threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the country, he noted at that time, but added that Moscow is considering modifications to this.
Speaking in Hanoi on Thursday, Putin argued that the West appears to be working on low-yield weapons to lower the nuclear threshold. Asked if Moscow could include a clause on the possibility of launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike, Putin said Russia does not need a first strike, “because our return strike is guaranteed to destroy any attacker.”