US responds to Russia’s nuclear doctrine updates

President Vladimir Putin’s warning that Russia would update its national nuclear doctrine is “irresponsible,” according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

On Wednesday, Putin suggested that under a revised version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, any aggression against the country by a non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state could be considered a “joint attack” and cross the nuclear threshold. The proposed change implies that the new rules could apply to a Ukrainian strike deep inside Russia with advanced weapons supplied by the US, Britain or France.

“It’s totally irresponsible,” Blinken said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, accusing Putin of “rattling the nuclear saber.” He also suggested that the Russian President’s comments were poorly timed, as world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly this week, and called on the international community to discuss “the need for more disarmament, non-proliferation.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, has explained that Putin’s proposal to update the nuclear doctrine is intended to serve as a warning to Western states of what could happen if they support Ukraine’s aggression against Russia and Belarus.

“This is a signal warning these nations of the consequences of their participation in an attack on our country by various means, including non-nuclear ones,” Peskov said, adding that he was sure that all reasonable leaders and analysts have understood the gravity of Putin’s announcement.

Putin has not elaborated on when changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine will take effect.

Previously, the Russian leader had repeatedly expressed a reserved position on the issue of nuclear weapons, stating in June that he hoped a nuclear exchange between Moscow and the West would never happen.