Vladimir Putin says Russia would consider a “joint attack,” an attack by a non-nuclear state backed by a nuclear-armed one, which could be interpreted as a threat to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.

In remarks on Wednesday night, the Russian president said his administration was considering changing the rules and conditions around which Russia would use its nuclear arsenal.

As the BBC reports, Ukraine is a non-nuclear state that receives military support from the US and other countries with nuclear weapons.

His comments come as Kiev seeks approval to use long-range Western missiles against military sites in Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the US this week and is due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Thursday, where Kiev’s demand is expected to top the agenda.

Responding to Putin’s comments, Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Russia “now has nothing but nuclear blackmail to intimidate the world.”

Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons in the past. Ukraine has criticized it as “nuclear intimidation” to deter its allies from providing further support.

Russia’s ally China has also called for calm while there are reports that President Xi Jinping has warned Putin against using nuclear weapons.

But on Wednesday, after a meeting with his Security Council, Putin announced the proposed radical expansion.

A new nuclear doctrine would “clearly set the conditions for Russia’s transition to the use of nuclear weapons,” he warned – and said such scenarios included conventional missile strikes against Moscow.

He said Russia would consider such a “possibility” of using nuclear weapons if it detected the start of a mass launch of missiles, aircraft and drones on its territory, which posed a “critical threat” to the country’s sovereignty.

He added: “It is proposed that an attack against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation.”

The country’s nuclear weapons were “the most important guarantee of the security of our state and its citizens,” the Kremlin leader said.

Since the end of World War II, nuclear-weapon states have engaged in a policy of deterrence, based on the idea that if belligerent states were to launch major nuclear strikes, this would lead to certain mutual destruction.

But there are also conventional nuclear weapons which are smaller warheads designed to destroy targets without extensive radioactive fallout.

In June, Putin warned European countries backing Ukraine, saying Russia has “much more [τακτικά πυρηνικά όπλα] of what exists on the European continent, even if the United States brings its own.’

“Europe is not developed [σύστημα έγκαιρης προειδοποίησης]”, he added. “In that sense they are pretty much defenseless.”
At the time he had hinted at changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine – the document that sets out the terms under which Moscow would use nuclear weapons.