President Putin outlines changes in Russia's nuclear doctrine
The Kremlin released a video of President Putin's statement regarding changes to nuclear doctrine.
According to RIA Novosti, at a meeting of the National Security Council on nuclear deterrence on September 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to provide some clear explanations on the conditions for Russia to use nuclear weapons.
"In the revised version of the "Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence", an aggressive action against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, is considered their joint attack on Russia," Russian President Putin stressed.
In addition, President Putin added that Moscow reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in an attack, even if the enemy uses conventional weapons that pose a serious threat to Russia and Belarus. Mr. Putin stressed that all these issues have been agreed with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
In addition to changing the conditions for using weapons, President Putin also proposed expanding the list of countries and military alliances that Russia will use nuclear deterrence, as well as expanding the list of threats that need to be neutralized.
“We have always taken a highly responsible approach to such issues, fully aware of the enormous power that these weapons possess, and have always strived to strengthen the international legal framework for global stability, as well as to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and their components,” the Russian leader noted.
President Putin added that the draft outlines the conditions for Moscow to switch to using nuclear weapons. This possibility will be considered when reliable data on mass launches of offensive weapons across Russia's borders are received. These weapons include strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, hypersonic drones and other types of aircraft.
President Putin stressed that the nuclear triad remains the most important guarantee of the security of Russia and its people. According to Putin, over the past year, experts have conducted in-depth analysis and assessed the need to adjust approaches to the possibility of using nuclear forces. On this basis, the clarification of the "Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence" has been verified and is commensurate with military threats and risks.