Russia lowers threshold for the use of nuclear weapons

In a new warning to the West, president Vladimir Putin yesterday said that any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.

The threat, outlined in a revision of Moscow’s nuclear doctrine, was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

Speaking during the meeting of Russia’s Security Council, which considers changes in Russia’s nuclear doctrine, Mr Putin announced that a revised version of the document says that an attack against Russia by a non-nuclear power with the support of a nuclear power will be seen as their “joint attack on the Russian Federation”.

Mr Putin did not specify whether the modified document envisages a nuclear response to such an attack, but he emphasised that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack posing a “critical threat to our sovereignty”, a vague formulation that leaves broad room for interpretation.