Kremlin says Putin's remarks about adjustment of Russia's nuclear doctrine 'signal to West'

MOSCOW

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that recent remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding potential amendments to the nation's nuclear doctrine should be interpreted as a "signal to the West."

"This should be considered a definite signal," Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

He, however, clarified that Russia currently has no plans to expand its nuclear arsenal. "No, such plans were not mentioned, nor were there any statements on the matter."

Asked whether the possibility of lifting the moratorium on nuclear testing was discussed in the context of adjusting the nuclear doctrine, Peskov responded: "I cannot answer your question. You saw the open portion of the meeting, but the rest of the session was entirely closed."

Peskov assured that any decision to publish the updated nuclear doctrine would be communicated "in a timely manner."

In a meeting with the country's Security Council on Wednesday, Putin stressed the need to revise the nuclear doctrine in response to the "rapidly changing" military-political landscape and the "emergence of new sources of military threats and risks" to Russia and its allies.

He proposed expanding the list of states and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as identifying new military threats that could be countered by nuclear deterrence measures.

The president suggested treating any aggression against Russia by non-nuclear states, if supported by nuclear powers, as a joint attack.

Putin also outlined that the updated doctrine would allow for the use of nuclear weapons if the military command receives verified information about a large-scale launch of air and space attack systems, such as tactical and hypersonic aircraft, cruise missiles, or drones, crossing into Russian territory.

"We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in response to aggression against Russia and Belarus as a member of the Union State, including cases where conventional weapons pose a critical threat to our sovereignty," he added.