Russia has warned that it will change its rules for the use of nuclear weapons in response to western involvement in the war in Ukraine.
President Putin has threatened on several occasions that Russia could carry out nuclear strikes over the west’s military support for Kyiv. President Zelensky and some western officials have dismissed the warnings as a bluff.
However, Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister, said that work to modify the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine was at an “advanced stage”. “There is a clear intent to make corrections,” he said, adding that the decision was linked to the West’s policy of “escalation” in Ukraine.
Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, said officials in Washington “had lost all common sense”
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Ryabkov’s comments came after hardliners in Moscow urged Putin to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear missiles to “sober up” Nato. Dmitry Trenin, a prominent analyst at a think tank that advises the Kremlin, has said that Moscow should alter the doctrine to state that Russia will use nuclear weapons first when “core” national interests are at stake, including in Ukraine.
Under Moscow’s current rules, Russia can use its vast nuclear arsenal if the existence of the country is under threat, including through the use of conventional weapons, or if it detects the launch of enemy nuclear missiles.
Ryabkov also said that it was an “obvious fact” that the United States was involved in Ukraine’s invasion of western Russia’s Kursk region and that officials in Washington had “lost all common sense”. “They believe that everything is permissible for them,” he said.
The US had said it was not informed in advance about Ukraine’s offensive and that it had taken no part in the planning of the operation. However, the Ukrainian military has said it used US-supplied Himars missiles to destroy bridges in the Kursk region. British Challenger 2 tanks and American Bradley fighting vehicles also appear to have been deployed by Kyiv.
Ukraine has said it has used western weapons to destroy bridges in Russia
AP
The invasion, which has widely been seen as a humiliation for Putin, is the first time that a foreign army has seized swathes of Russian territory since the Second World War. Ukraine has also carried out massive drone strikes against targets inside Russia in recent weeks, including on the outskirts of Moscow and as far away as Murmansk, north of the Arctic Circle.
This is not the first time that Moscow has said that it will alter its nuclear doctrine, but Ryabkov’s comments are the clearest indication yet that top level discussions are under way. He did not say what the changes would be or when they would be introduced, however. “The time for completing this work is a rather difficult question, given that we are talking about the most important aspects of ensuring our national security,” he said.
China, which has provided vital economic and diplomatic support for Moscow, has cautioned Russia against using nuclear missiles during the conflict.
Zelensky said last week that Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region proved that Russia’s warnings of red lines that could trigger a nuclear response were meaningless. Ukraine has repeatedly urged its western allies to lift restrictions on the use of long-range missiles to allow it to destroy military infrastructure deep inside Russia. The Kremlin launched a barrage on Ukrainian cities over the weekend, killing at least eight people in Kharkiv, including a child in a playground.
Washington remains cautious, however. “Of course, we’re worried about escalation,” Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said last month. “Just because Russia hasn’t responded to something doesn’t mean that they can’t or won’t in the future.”