Vladimir Putin Threatens to Retaliate With Nuclear Weapons if Ukraine Uses Long-Range Missiles
Russian President, Vladimir Putin seems to be in no mood to bow down to intimidation and is ready to strike back. Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging allies to allow his country to fire long-range missiles at Russia, BBC reported. Putin with his new directives has sent a clear message that if such permission is granted, then his country will also not back down from launching nuclear attacks.
Putin recently announced that his government was seriously considering, changing the terms and conditions of Russia's nuclear doctrine, BBC reported. The doctrine in place dictates the conditions which allow Russian authorities to use nuclear weapons against their enemies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shared that a decision is yet to be made on whether the updated conditions will be made available to other countries.
Putin claimed, that the changed conditions would include missile attacks launched toward his country, BBC reported. In his statement, he directed his warnings against Ukraine as well as its allies, who might be planning missile attacks on Russia.
"It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation," Putin stated.
The Kremlin leader believes that nuclear weapons are "the most important guarantee of security of our state and its citizens" and is willing to use them if faced with an attack, BBC reported.
The currently published nuclear doctrine states, that Russia can use nuclear weapons when faced with a similar attack from enemies, CNN reported. The updated regulations will reportedly include their ally Belarus which is protected by the doctrine and also clarify that the allies of the country launching such attacks will also be considered an enemy.
Ukraine was not deterred by these threats, and sent the same message to its allies, CNN reported. "Russia no longer has any instruments to intimidate the world apart from nuclear blackmail," Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, said. "These instruments will not work."