On Wednesday evening, Vladimir Putin said in his statements that his government was considering changing the rules and conditions over which Russia would use its nuclear arsenal.

The Russian president claimed that 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.

According to the BBC, Ukraine is a non-nuclear state that receives military support from the US and other nuclear-armed countries. At the same time, Kiev is seeking 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 today, where Kiev’s demand is expected to top the agenda.

Also read: Russia | To change its nuclear doctrine in response to Western actions

Responding to Putin’s comments, Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said that Russia now had nothing but nuclear blackmail to bully the world. 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, and he said such scenarios include conventional missile strikes against Moscow.

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

The country’s nuclear weapons were the most important guarantee for the security of the 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 mutually assured destruction.

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

In June, Putin warned European countries backing Ukraine, saying Russia has far more nuclear weapons than are on the European continent, even if the United States brings in its own, while Europe does not have a developed early warning system. 

Also read: Finland | The world’s first nuclear grave