The Russian president Vladimir Putin sent a warning message to the US on Tuesday, expanding the conditions for a nuclear strike, days after Joe Biden’s administration reportedly allowed Ukraine to launch US missiles deep into Russia. After all, the Ukrainian armed forces allegedly carried out the first strike on an area inside Russian territory with US ATACMS missilesthe Bloomberg agency reported citing the Ukrainian RBC Ukraine.

The updated doctrine signed by Putin todayofficially known as “the basic principles of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence,” describes the threats that would cause Russia, the world’s largest nuclear power, to use such weapons.

OR Russia would consider a nuclear strike if it or its ally Belarus faced an attack “using conventional weapons that would pose a critical threat to their sovereignty and/or territorial integrity”the new doctrine states.

The previous doctrine, laid out in a 2020 decree, said Russia could use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatened the existence of the state.

The updated nuclear doctrine also notes that any conventional attack against Russia by a non-nuclear power backed by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack. Any massive air strike by aircraft, cruise missiles and drones across Russia’s borders could also warrant a nuclear response.

“An attack against the Russian Federation and/or its allies by any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state is considered a joint attack”characteristically mentions the updated doctrine signed by the Russian president. “An attack by any state from a military coalition against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies is considered an attack by the coalition as a whole.”

The Kremlin said Russia views nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and that the aim of the updated doctrine is to make it abundantly clear to potential enemies that retaliation will be inevitable if they attack Russia.

Russia and the US together control 88% of the world’s nuclear warheads and Putin is the main decision-maker on the use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

Escalation

Weeks before November’s US presidential election, Putin had ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine.

These changes have now been officially approved by Putin. Analysts said at the time that the move was an attempt by Putin to draw a red line for the West.

The war in Ukrainewho entered the 1,000th day on Tuesday, has sparked the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis – considered the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to a nuclear war.

The green light given by the outgoing government Biden in Ukraine over the use of US long-range missiles – although not yet officially confirmed by Washington – has escalated tensions. Washington, for its part, maintains that Russia’s deployment of North Korean soldiers in Russia is an escalation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on reports that Kiev may use US ATACMS missiles in support of Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, said on Tuesday that the Russian military was monitoring the situation very closely.

It is recalled that Putin stated on September 12 that Western approval of such a decision would mean “the direct involvement of NATO countries, the USA and European countries in the war in Ukraine”because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in targeting and launching the missiles.

“Nuclear deterrence is intended to ensure that a potential adversary perceives that retaliation will be inevitable in the event of an attack against the Russian Federation and/or its allies”Peskov said.

In 2022, the US was so concerned about Russia’s possible use of tactical nuclear weapons that it warned Putin about the consequences of using such weapons, according to CIA Director Bill Burns.