Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that an attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.
The signing of the doctrine, which states that any massive aerial attack on Russia could trigger a nuclear response, reflects Putin’s readiness to threaten use of the country’s nuclear arsenal to force the West to back down, a report in the Associated Press said.
The Russian President's endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1,000th day after Moscow launched an attack against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The Kremlin said that broadening the rules for the use of nuclear weapons was a "necessary" response to what Moscow sees as Western threats to its security, AFP said in a report.
"It was necessary to bring our principles in line with the current situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, shortly after Putin signed a decree easing the conditions under which Moscow would consider launching a nuclear attack.
Putin first announced changes in the nuclear doctrine in September, when he chaired a meeting discussing the proposed revisions.