The Russian Federation clarifies its nuclear doctrine: a global conflict is possible

Dmitry Peskov announced the possible escalation of the war with Ukraine into a global conflict due to the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region

Russian authorities are currently clarifying the provisions of their nuclear doctrine, the country's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on August 27, RBC reports . This is how the Foreign Minister commented on the words of the coordinator at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, that in the event of a world war, Europe would be the first to suffer.

“It is very important to understand that we have our own doctrine, including the doctrine of the use of nuclear weapons, which, by the way, is now being clarified and which American officials are very well aware of,” Lavrov said.

A day later, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region would escalate tensions to the limit. “There is reason to be concerned about the possibility of a global conflict,” he stressed .

A few days earlier, on August 16, the Ukrainian government adopted a resolution regarding the provision of radiation and chemical protection means to the population in the event of the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

The authorities explain the change in doctrine by new developments in the West

Vladimir Putin first spoke about the fact that Russia might consider changes to its nuclear doctrine at the end of June. According to him, the changes are related to lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in the West. In particular, due to the development of “ultra-low power explosive nuclear devices.”

“We know that in expert circles in the West there are ideas that such weapons could be used and there is nothing particularly terrible about it. We must pay attention to this,” Putin said. However, the authorities did not specify how Russian nuclear doctrine would change because of this.

The head of the State Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, suggested that the time for making a decision on the use of nuclear weapons may change in the nuclear doctrine. “If we see that the challenges and threats increase, it means that we can correct something in it regarding the timing of the use of nuclear weapons and the decision to make this use,” Kartapolov said.

Now Russia can use nuclear weapons for four reasons, which are described in the document “Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence” approved in 2020:

• Receipt of reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles attacking the territory of the country or allies.
• The use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction in Russian territories.
• Impact on critical Russian government or military installations.
• Aggression against a country using conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is threatened.
  

In the West, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they also started talking about nuclear deterrence

The reason for talk about nuclear deterrence was both the transfer of nuclear weapons to Belarus and Russian exercises with the deployment of nuclear forces to positions. “What we have seen in recent years and months is dangerous nuclear rhetoric from the Russian side,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 12.

NATO currently includes three countries with strategic nuclear weapons - the USA, Great Britain and France. In addition, under Joint Nuclear Mission agreements, the United States deploys tactical nuclear weapons in five additional NATO member states: Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Turkey. These are weapons that are under American control, and the troops of these countries cannot use them without US permission.

Photo: Launch of the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile as part of the strategic deterrence exercise on October 26, 2022. Russian Ministry of Defense via Reuters.