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Kremlin says recent adjustments to Russia's nuclear policy intended as a message to Western nations

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Kremlin says recent adjustments to Russia's nuclear policy intended as a message to Western nations
Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrives to deliver a speech during a graduation ceremony of Russian military higher education institutions at the Kremlin's Saint George Hall in Moscow, on June 21, 2024 (Mikhail Sinitsyn / POOL / AFP) 

The Kremlin on Sept. 26 emphasized that President Vladimir Putin’s revisions to Russia’s nuclear weapons doctrine should serve as a warning to Western nations, making clear that involvement in attacks on Russia would carry serious repercussions.

A day earlier, Putin announced that Russia could respond to conventional missile strikes with nuclear weapons, and indicated that Moscow would treat any attack backed by a nuclear-armed country as a coordinated assault.

Russia's decision to modify its nuclear doctrine is a direct response to discussions in the U.S. and U.K. about whether to allow Ukraine to launch conventional Western missiles into Russian territory.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that updates had been made to a document titled "The Foundations of State Policy in the Sphere of Nuclear Deterrence." When asked if these changes were intended as a message to the West, Peskov said: "This should be considered a definite signal."

Peskov emphasized that Russia's updated nuclear doctrine serves as "a signal that warns these countries about the consequences if they participate in an attack on our country by various means, and not necessarily nuclear ones." He added that the world is witnessing an "unprecedented confrontation" provoked by the "direct involvement of Western countries, including nuclear powers," in the war in Ukraine.

"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and reckless," outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the Council on Foreign Relations, according to Reuters. "We are closely watching what Russia is doing."

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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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