Russia Updates Nuclear Doctrine to Communicate Resolve

Russia is updating its nuclear doctrine to ensure that its adversaries have no illusions about Moscow's willingness to secure its safety by any means necessary. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“We take into account the entirety of factors affecting strategic stability, our security, and defense capability. For this purpose, we are updating the fundamental principles of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence, so that adversaries have no illusions about our resolve to secure the Russian Federation's safety by all means,” Grushko said.

According to him, both conceptually and politically, as well as in terms of military-technical aspects, “NATO’s nuclear countries and the bloc itself, which has declared itself as nuclear, are moving towards an increased role of nuclear weapons in the alliance’s strategy.”

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin had suggested discussing the updates related to state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence during a permanent consultation of the Security Council. Putin announced that Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the case of aggression, including if the adversary creates a critical threat to sovereignty using conventional weapons.