Russia has been making nuclear threats since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The state’s current official policy from June 2020 reads, “The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and (or) its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation using conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state has been placed under threat.”
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Sunday that upcoming changes to the policy were “connected with the escalation course of our Western adversaries,” referring to NATO members’ support of Ukraine.
The move seemingly fits, however, with how Russia has historically behaved over the last nearly 35 years.
Russian expert Yuri Federov explained in 2010 that since the end of the Cold War, “[The] Russian military command [has] sought to develop a method of limited use of nuclear weapons that will enable them to deter or stop [an] attack of superior conventional forces without escalation into total nuclear exchange or large-scale regional war.”
CNBC reports on potential changes to Russia’s state policy regarding the conditions that might make it acceptable to use nuclear weapons. Here’s the start of the story:
Russia has again hinted that it’s making changes to its official stance on the use of nuclear weapons, amid Ukraine’s continuing incursion into its Kursk border region.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Sunday that Russia is in the process of amending its nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions in which nuclear weapons can be used, because of what Russia sees as a Western-backed “escalation” of the war with Ukraine.
Russia accused the West of encouraging Ukraine’s cross-border raid that has seen its forces seize almost 500 square miles of Russian territory since it began on Aug. 6. Ukraine’s NATO allies deny having any prior knowledge of the operation, or any hand in its offensive.
Speaking to Russian state media agency TASS on Sunday, Ryabkov said work was “at an advanced stage” to amend Russia’s nuclear doctrine governing the use of nuclear weapons.
“There is a clear direction to make adjustments, which are also conditioned by the study and analysis of the experience of conflict development in recent years, including … everything related to the escalation course of our Western opponents in connection with the SVO [special military operation],” Ryabkov said, referring to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.