Putin Says Russia Might Loosen Its Nuclear Doctrine

Announcement is seen as a threat against the West
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 26, 2024 1:30 AM CDT
Putin Seems to Threaten Using Nukes Against Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.   (Aleksei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In what multiple news outlets are painting as an apparent threat to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced proposed changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine. He highlighted one in particular, NBC News reports: "It is proposed that aggression 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," he said. That condition would cover Ukraine, which is itself non-nuclear, but which is backed by a number of nuclear-armed nations, the BBC reports.

Fox News calls it "a pointed warning to the West" over its support of Ukraine. "Regardless of whether you think this is a bluff or not, it's never good when a major nuclear power loosens the conditions for nuclear use in its declaratory policy," noted one political scientist on X. Putin made the remarks at the opening of a meeting of Russia's Security Council, a day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington to discuss the possibility of Ukraine using long-range weapons in order to hit targets deeper inside Russia (which Putin has already said would put the West at war with Russia). Also Wednesday, the White House announced $375 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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