A reported US decision to change its nuclear doctrine could severely undermine global security, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has warned.
The New York Times reported last month that the administration of President Joe Biden had approved a new version of a highly classified nuclear strategy in March, with changes focused on China’s growing nuclear capabilities. According to the newspaper, the document takes into account possible “coordinated nuclear challenges” from China, Russia and North Korea.
In an interview with TASS news agency on Sunday, Ryabkov said that while it was premature to comment on the specifics of the new strategy, as it has not yet been publicly announced, the early signs are worrying.
“Given the overall extremely destructive foreign policy course of Washington, any ‘innovations’ can be expected, including extremely destabilizing ones,” he said.
The deputy foreign minister stressed that Russia is also changing its nuclear doctrine, citing “escalatory” actions by the West amid the Ukraine conflict. The official noted that Russia is currently fine-tuning its nuclear policy, but declined to specify a deadline.
This is “quite a complex matter, given that we are talking about the most important aspects of ensuring our national security”.
Moscow’s nuclear posture stipulates that it can deploy its nuclear arsenal only “in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, and also in case of aggression against Russia with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened.”
Russian officials have on numerous occasions said they have no plans to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and that while Moscow is working to update its nuclear doctrine, it still operates on the premise that nuclear powers will never have to engage in a full-scale atomic war.
The US and Russia hold the largest nuclear arsenals in the world, with around 5,000 and 5,500 warheads, respectively. The two powers are also signatories to the New START Treaty, which limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550. China, which is estimated to have around 500 nukes, has signaled that it has no plans to join the treaty.