Bansri Shah, Pune
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, warned the West on Wednesday about the country’s updated nuclear doctrine which now states that it may make use of nuclear weapons if they are attacked with conventional arms.
In a televised meeting with Russia’s Security Council, he announced that an attack by a non-nuclear power on Russia but with the support of a nuclear power will be considered and retaliated as a ‘joint’ attack on the Russian Federation.
He specified that the circumstances in which Russia would use nuclear weapons have been clearly outlined. A response could be initiated by the detection of a significant missile, aircraft, or drone launch directed at Russia or its ally Belarus. He described these clarifications as essential adjustments to the contemporary military threats facing the nation, indicating a shift in Russia’s nuclear strategy.
This revision in its doctrine is intended primarily to deter the West from letting Ukraine target Russia with longer-range weapons. It emerges after discussions in the United States and the United Kingdom that may allow Ukraine to deploy Western missiles into Russian territory.
While Putin did not directly address Ukraine, he hinted that it would mean that if an attack does occur, it would be a declaration of war between NATO and Russia.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia war, Russia has gained slow progress against Ukraine. It has been attempting to discourage the Western allies to Kyiv from increasing their support. Threats of nuclear war have been regularly made by Putin since the start of the war. He even deferred Russia’s participation in the START Treaty, in partnership with the US, which aimed to limit the number of nuclear weapons that each warring side could mobilize and launch.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Western powers to ignore Russia’s threats. Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, stated that Russia no longer possesses any means to intimidate the world other than nuclear blackmail, and said that those means would be ineffective.
With Russia capturing principal areas in Ukraine, the war has entered a treacherous phase. One-fifth of Ukrainian territory is controlled by Russia today and if there occurs a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, it could trigger World War III.