Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a warning to the United States, lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike just days after the administration of Joe Biden reportedly allowed Ukraine to fire American missiles deep into Russia.
The updated doctrine, formally known as “The basics of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence”, outlines the threats that would make Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power, contemplate using such weapons.
Russia would consider a nuclear strike if it, or its ally Belarus, faced aggression “with the use of conventional weapons that created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity”, the new doctrine said.
The previous doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree, said Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatened the existence of the state.
Other innovations included considering any conventional assault on Russia by a non-nuclear power supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack. Any mass aerospace attack with aircraft, cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft that crossed Russia’s borders could also trigger a nuclear response.
“Aggression against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies on the part of any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state is considered as their joint attack,” the doctrine said.
“Aggression of any state from a military coalition (bloc, union) against the Russian Federation and (or) its allies is considered as aggression by the coalition (bloc, union) as a whole.”
The Kremlin said Russia considered nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and that the aim of the updated text was to make absolutely clear to potential enemies that the inevitability of retaliation should they attack Russia.
Together, Russia and the U.S. control 88% of the world’s nuclear warheads. Putin is Russia’s primary decision-maker on the use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Weeks before the November U.S. presidential elections, Putin ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine.
Those changes have now been formally approved by Putin. Analysts said at the time that the change to the doctrine was an attempt by Putin to draw a red line for the West.
Putin recently said he’s dropping his plans to dethrone the U.S. dollar through BRICS because his longtime “buddy,” President Donald Trump, is back on the scene.
The bold statement came just after Trump’s recent victory in the election, and Putin’s about-face has people raising eyebrows around the world. The timing is a bit too perfect.
The unexpected development brings the famous Trump-Putin “bromance” back into the spotlight, a relationship that’s stirred endless controversy, fueled countless conspiracy theories, and kept political insiders on edge since Trump first stepped into the Oval Office.
Trump has never hidden his admiration for Putin. Throughout his first term, he openly praised the Russian leader. And it wasn’t just vague compliments—Trump went all in with the praise. He called Putin “smart” and “genius” for his moves, even during Russia’s aggressive actions.
Back in 2018, when Trump and Putin met at the Helsinki Summit, Trump did what no one saw coming. He publicly questioned his own intelligence agencies’ conclusions on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. “I have great confidence in my intelligence people,” Trump said, “but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
Not your typical post-summit talk, right? And Trump didn’t stop there. Even after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he couldn’t resist complimenting Putin. “I’d say that’s pretty smart,” Trump said about Putin taking over parts of Ukraine. “He’s taking over a country—really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people, and just walking right in.”
He doubled down on the praise while everyone else in the West condemned Russia. Whatever else was said in private between them, these public displays of respect weren’t missed by anyone paying attention.
This new development however, complicates things for the newly elected United States President and his Russian Counterpart.