Russia says it will change nuclear doctrine because of Western role in Ukraine
Minister says work is at "advanced stage"
Hawks want Putin to lower threshold for nuclear use
Moscow says West using Ukraine as proxy to harm Russia
West, Kyiv say this is nonsense
Recasts throughout, adds Ryabkov and Peskov quotes
By Mark Trevelyan
LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) -Russia will make changes to itsdoctrine on the use of nuclear weapons in response to what it regards as Western escalation in the war in Ukraine, state media quotedDeputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Sunday.
The existing nuclear doctrine, set out in a decree by President Vladimir Putin in 2020, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.
Some hawks among Russia's military analysts have urged Putin to lower the threshold for nuclear use in order to "sober up" Russia's enemies in the West.
Putin said in June that the nuclear doctrine was a "living instrument" that could change, depending on world events. Ryabkov's comments on Sunday were the clearest statement yet that changes would indeed be made.
"The work is at an advanced stage, and there is a clear intent to make corrections," state news agency TASS cited Ryabkov as saying.
He said the decision is "connected with the escalation course of our Western adversaries" in connection with the Ukraine conflict.
Moscow accuses the West of using Ukraine as a proxy to wage war against it, with the aim of inflicting a "strategic defeat" on Russia and breaking it apart.
The United States and its allies deny that, saying they are helping Ukraine defend itself against a colonial-style war of aggression by Russia.
'RED LINES'
Putin said on day one of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that anyone who tried to hinder or threaten it would suffer "consequences that you have never faced in your history".
Since then, he has issued a series of further statements that the West regards as nuclear threats, and announced the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
That has not deterred the U.S. and its allies from stepping up military aid to Ukraine in ways that were unthinkable when the war started, including by supplying tanks, long-range missiles and F-16 fighter jets.
Ukraine shocked Moscow last month by piercing its western border in an incursion by thousands of troops that Russia is still fighting to repel.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the operation made a mockery of Putin's "red lines". He is also lobbying hard for the U.S. to allow it to use advanced Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published on Sunday that the West was "going too far" and that Russia would do everything to protect its interests.
Ryabkov did not say when the updated nuclear doctrine would be ready. "The time for completing this work is a rather difficult question, given that we are talking about the most important aspects of ensuring our national security," he said.
Russia has more nuclear weapons than any other country. Putin said in March that Moscow was ready for the eventuality of a nuclear war "from a military-technical point of view".
He said, however, that he saw no rush towards nuclear confrontation and that Russia had never faced a need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Additional reporting by Lucy Papachristou
Editing by Gareth Jones
Ultime news
Disclaimer: le entità di XM Group forniscono servizi di sola esecuzione e accesso al nostro servizio di trading online, che permette all'individuo di visualizzare e/o utilizzare i contenuti disponibili sul sito o attraverso di esso; non ha il proposito di modificare o espandere le proprie funzioni, né le modifica o espande. L'accesso e l'utilizzo sono sempre soggetti a: (i) Termini e condizioni; (ii) Avvertenza sui rischi e (iii) Disclaimer completo. Tali contenuti sono perciò forniti a scopo puramente informativo. Nello specifico, ti preghiamo di considerare che i contenuti del nostro servizio di trading online non rappresentano un sollecito né un'offerta ad operare sui mercati finanziari. Il trading su qualsiasi mercato finanziario comporta un notevole livello di rischio per il tuo capitale.
Tutto il materiale pubblicato sul nostro servizio di trading online è unicamente a scopo educativo e informativo, e non contiene (e non dovrebbe essere considerato come contenente) consigli e raccomandazioni di carattere finanziario, di trading o fiscale, né informazioni riguardanti i nostri prezzi di trading, offerte o solleciti riguardanti transazioni che possano coinvolgere strumenti finanziari, oppure promozioni finanziarie da te non richieste.
Tutti i contenuti di terze parti, oltre ai contenuti offerti da XM, siano essi opinioni, news, ricerca, analisi, prezzi, altre informazioni o link a siti di terzi presenti su questo sito, sono forniti "così com'è", e vanno considerati come commenti generali sui mercati; per questo motivo, non possono essere visti come consigli di investimento. Dato che tutti i contenuti sono intesi come ricerche di investimento, devi considerare e accettare che non sono stati preparati né creati seguendo i requisiti normativi pensati per promuovere l'indipendenza delle ricerche di investimento; per questo motivo, questi contenuti devono essere considerati come comunicazioni di marketing in base alle leggi e normative vigenti. Assicurati di avere letto e compreso pienamente la nostra Notifica sulla ricerca di investimento non indipendente e la nostra Informativa sul rischio riguardante le informazioni sopra citate; tali documenti sono consultabili qui.
