The The European Union on Thursday rejected Russia’s “threats” following the change in its nuclear doctrine, a move the Kremlin described as a “warning” of a possible attack on Russian territory with Western participation.
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“We strongly reject these threats and the position of the European Union has not changed,” said EU Foreign Affairs spokesman Peter Stano during the daily press conference of the European Commission. “This is not the first time that Putin has played with his nuclear arsenal,” he said.
According to him, “This is nothing more than a continuation of very irresponsible and unacceptable behavior on the part of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, which basically shows everyone, especially during the United Nations General Assembly, his true colors.”
The spokesman said that the EU is pointing out to other partners in the international community “how reckless and irresponsible is the behaviour of someone who represents a country that is a permanent member of the Security Council, whose task is to maintain peace in the world.”
This fits the pattern of his behavior so far, revealing his true colors.
“This fits the pattern of his behavior so far, revealing his true colors during a major high-profile international event taking place right now in New York,” he concluded.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called the Russian president’s new nuclear doctrine “totally irresponsible” on Thursday.
“It’s totally irresponsible and I think many countries around the world have made this clear whenever (Russia) has made threats on the nuclear issue, including China,” the head of US diplomacy said in an interview with MSNBC from New York, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly.
Blinken said the announcement was particularly serious because it came as leaders from around the world met at the UN to discuss, among many other issues, “the need for greater disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation.”
“I think (Russia’s announcement) will be very badly received around the world,” he added.
What Vladimir Putin’s new nuclear doctrine says
And it is that Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a nuclear “warning” to the West not to authorize Ukraine to use long-range missiles, with the approval of a new doctrine that allows nuclear responses to conventional attacks against the territories of Russia and Belarus.
“This is a warning of the consequences if these countries participate in an attack against our country by various means, not necessarily nuclear,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at his daily telephone press conference on Thursday.
Putin gave the order to introduce changes in the nuclear doctrine because the military-political situation in the world “is actively changing,” which leads to the emergence of “new sources of military threat and risks for Russia and its allies.”
Putin had already suggested this possibility several months ago, but he did not decide to announce the new doctrine until Moscow concluded that, in fact, NATO had long ago made the political decision to allow kyiv to hit targets on Russian territory with its missiles.
On Wednesday, during the meeting of the Russian Security Council, Putin stressed that “the category of states and military alliances” and “the list of military threats” against which “nuclear deterrence actions” will be carried out have been expanded. in reference to the Russian triad (intercontinental missiles, atomic submarines and strategic aircraft).
We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against Russia and Belarus as a member of the State Union
In this regard, Peskov stressed on Thursday that The new doctrine is directed at “unfriendly countries,” referring to NATO members, Japan and Australia, among others.
The spokesman also cited as arguments for the change “the unprecedented confrontation caused by the direct involvement of Western countries, including nuclear powers, in the conflict in Ukraine” and “the elements of tension that are accumulating on our borders.”
Yes indeed, He did not confirm that the new doctrine would imply either an increase in the strategic arsenal or an imminent nuclear test by Russia, although Moscow has prepared a military polygon in Novaya Zemlya, the scene of the last Soviet atomic test in 1990.
Putin said that “in the revised version of the document, aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear power, will be considered as a joint attack against Russia.”
However, Kommersant notes in its analysis that this option was already introduced by Russia in 1995 and, in fact, could allow it to use such weapons against Ukrainian troops who were about to enter the Russian region of Kursk in August.
“We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Russia and Belarus as a member of the State Union (…) Including if the adversary uses conventional weapons and poses a vital threat to our sovereignty,” the Kremlin chief said.
It is clear that Russia does not understand how to stop what is coming in this war.
This point is interpreted by the newspaper as “lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons”, since the 2020 document allowed that possibility only if the attack threatened the very existence of the State.
In turn, He stressed that the doctrine specifies “the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons by Russia (…) “in the event of receiving true information about the massive takeoff of aerospace attack vehicles and the crossing of our border.”
For the first time, the document refers not only to aviation and enemy hypersonic aircraft, but also to drones, an instrument of war that has gained great popularity in recent years.
The Ukrainian presidency was quick to respond to what it called “nuclear blackmail,” arguing that it is the only instrument of intimidation in the world that the Kremlin has at its disposal.
“Other instruments are not working (…). It is clear that Russia does not understand how to stop what is coming in this war,” Mikhail Podoliak, a presidential adviser, said on Telegram.
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