Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday signed off Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine, which now includes the possibility of using nuclear weapons in response to conventional missile attacks supported by a nuclear power.
President Biden for the first time had authorised the use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike inside Russia recognised international territory.
Citing one U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter, the decision represents a significant shift in U.S. policy as Biden prepares to leave office, with President-elect Donald Trump pledging to swiftly end the war and expressing scepticism about continued U.S. support in the war efforts between Ukraine and Russia.
The missiles are expected to be used in response to North Korea’s decision to deploy thousands of troops to Russia to aid President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
In apparent response to the Russian President Putin signed off updated Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
The updated doctrine lowers the threshold for nuclear use, considering attacks with conventional missiles, drones, or other aircraft as potential triggers. Additionally, any aggression against Russia by a state within a coalition would be seen as aggression by the entire coalition.
This development is a concerning escalation in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with potential implications for global security. The updated doctrine is seen as a attempt by Russia to restore the effectiveness of its deterrent, as the West continues to support Ukraine with military aid.
According to Sky News, weeks before the November US presidential elections, Putin ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine to say that any conventional attack on Russia aided by a nuclear power could be considered to be a joint attack on Russia.
The 1,000-day-old Ukraine war has triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis – considered to be the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to intentional nuclear war.
Meanwhile, former Putin adviser Sergey Markov in an interview with Sky News, that the US has become directly involved in the war by allowing Ukraine to fire its long-range missiles at Russia.
In the interview watched by SaharaReporters, Markov said the US was only using Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops against Ukraine as a “pretence”.
“Joe Biden wants to block attempts of Donald Trump when he will be inaugurated as president to make a peace deal,” adding that if Ukraine uses the UK’s long-range missiles, known as Storm Shadow, against Russia with the participation of British officers, the British military would become a target along with that of the US.
“If United States and Great Britain are now directly taking part in a war against Russia, it means that all militaries of US and Great Britain become legitimate goals for the Russian military.”
He insisted that Ukrainian soldiers cannot operate and select coordinate target inside Russia without NATO military satellite intelligence.