Russia has said preventing a military confrontation between nuclear powers is its “highest priority” and, despite having made such threats recently, has urged other countries that have such weapons to reaffirm their commitment to avoiding atomic war.
On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry “fully reaffirmed” Moscow’s commitment to avoiding nuclear war and an arms race under a joint declaration signed with the United States, Britain, France and China in January.
As the Ukrainian War reaches eight months, with Russian action showing signs of faltering, President Vladimir Putin has renewed veiled threats to use nuclear weapons. All of this is part of a strategy that Western officials say is aimed at preventing Western military aid to Kiev.
The rhetoric has alarmed Western powers, especially after Russia made baseless claims last week that Ukraine was developing a “dirty bomb” – a conventional weapon laced with radioactive material.
Putin repeated the warnings but later said that “it makes no military or political sense” for Russia to use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine.
“We are firmly convinced that, in the current difficult and turbulent situation, which is a consequence of irresponsible and insolent actions aimed at undermining our national security, avoiding any military confrontation between nuclear powers is the highest priority,” the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
In London, Defense Minister Ben Wallace repeated that the claim that Ukraine was developing a “dirty bomb” was completely false and said that the UK, along with the US and France, “felt absolutely obligated to maintain the taboo” on the use of nuclear weapons.
“Russia’s allegations about the preparation of a tactical nuclear weapon by Ukraine or in fact facilitated by the United Kingdom or any other power are neither correct nor true,” Wallace told the House of Commons Defense Committee. “It would be abhorrent, against international law and totally unjustifiable. We have no intention of doing anything other than stating the truth about it.”
Western officials have stepped up monitoring of Russia’s nuclear readiness in recent months but have not reported any changes. Ukraine has said Moscow’s rhetoric is likely a bluff, aimed at convincing its Western supporters to pressure Kiev into accepting an unfavorable peace deal on Moscow’s terms.
Ukrainian forces are advancing on the southern city of Kherson, the only provincial capital Russia captured during the invasion — Putin claimed it as part of the country in an over-the-top annexation ceremony in late September.
Despite the Russian vowing to use “all means at its disposal” to defend territory it considers part of Russia, Ukraine has continued to push back rival forces, endorsing the conviction of some officials that Moscow will not carry out its threats.
One of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he hoped Moscow would focus on stopping the war, without trying to divert attention from the conflict to irrelevant issues — efforts that so far, according to this source, have had little success.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement contained an implicit rebuke to Western powers supplying advanced weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow said increases the risk of a direct conflict between the country’s and NATO forces.
In apparent reference to the “dirty bomb” allegations, the body called on Kiev supporters to “demonstrate their willingness to address this priority and abandon dangerous attempts to undermine their vital interests, balancing on the line of direct armed conflict and encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction, which can lead to catastrophic consequences”.
The Foreign Ministry further said that Russia’s military doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons if the country is hit first in a nuclear strike or if “the very existence of the state” is threatened by a conventional attack.
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