25 Sep, 2024 21:16

What changes is Russia making to its nuclear doctrine?

Deep strikes by Ukraine and attack on Belarus would now trigger atomic response

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a series of updates to the national strategy for using nuclear weapons, intended to address the changing military and political situation and emergence of new threats.

The matter was brought up at the session of the Russian Security Council on Wednesday, attended by the ministers of Defense and Finance and the heads of the SVR, FSB, Roscosmos and Rosatom.

“Today, the nuclear triad remains the most important guarantee of the security of our state and citizens, an instrument for maintaining strategic parity and the balance of power in the world,” Putin said.

Attack by a “non-nuclear state”

The first proposed update to the state policy “expands the category of states and military alliances” to which nuclear deterrence applies, and “supplements the list of military threats” intended to be neutralized by the deterrent.

This would treat “aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state” as their “joint attack,” crossing the nuclear threshold.

While no countries have been named, as written, this would clearly apply to Ukraine striking Russian territory with weapons supplied by the US or its nuclear NATO allies. Putin has previously said that such strikes would require active participation of foreign military personnel and assets, bringing them into direct conflict with Russia.

Why were the changes proposed now?

Earlier this year, Putin said that some updates to the doctrine might be needed, given the new emerging threats from NATO. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov described the existing doctrine in June as “too general” and said that Western “ignorance” requires Russia to say “more clearly, more distinctly, more definitely what could happen” if they continued their “unacceptable and escalatory actions.”

Since May, the government in Kiev has clamored for the US and its allies to remove all restrictions on use of their weapons against Russia, which Moscow has clearly said would represent direct Western involvement in the conflict.

Putin reiterated on Wednesday that the use of nuclear weapons remains an “extreme measure” to protect Russian sovereignty, but that Moscow must take into account that the “modern military-political situation is changing dynamically… including the emergence of new sources of military threats and risks for Russia and our allies.”

Recap

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What changes is Russia making to its nuclear doctrine?

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