Putin says he doesn’t know if the West understands Russia’s modified doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons

Meduza.io

During Vladimir Putin’s end-of-the-year press conference on Thursday, a state journalist asked the president if he thinks the West understands recent changes to Russia’s doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons. Putin reiterated his view that the country’s modified policy is a response to evolving threats against Russia:

I don’t know how they understood it; you’d have to ask them. I’ll outline a few key points. We address certain military risks that could escalate into new threats, and we consider the increased responsibility of non-nuclear states that may participate in aggression against Russia together with nuclear-armed countries. If such states pose a threat to us, we reserve the right to use our nuclear weapons against them as well. We also announced that we will do everything necessary to ensure Belarus’s security, if similar threats are posed to our ally, Belarus. I think this is a very important component of the updated nuclear doctrine.

Background

• Putin approves updates to Russia’s nuclear doctrine to allow attacks on non-nuclear ‘proxy’ states