US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called President Vladimir Putin’s remarks on the matter “irresponsible.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has labelled President Vladimir Putin’s warning of a Russian national nuclear doctrine update as “irresponsible.”
On Wednesday, Putin proposed that a revised Russian nuclear doctrine would deem any aggression against the country by a non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state as a “joint attack” and a potential nuclear escalation. The proposed change suggests that these new rules could apply to a Ukrainian attack deep within Russia using advanced weapons supplied by the US, Britain or France.
“It’s totally irresponsible,” Blinken stated in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, accusing Putin of “rattling the nuclear saber.” He also criticized the timing of Putin’s comments, coinciding with the gathering of world leaders in New York for the UN General Assembly this week, and urged the international community to discuss “the need for more disarmament, non-proliferation.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, however, clarified that Putin’s proposed nuclear doctrine update serves as a warning to Western states regarding the potential consequences of supporting 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 stated, asserting that all reasonable leaders and analysts have grasped the gravity of Putin’s announcement.
Putin has not provided a timeframe for the implementation of these changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
Previously, the Russian leader had consistently expressed a cautious stance on nuclear weapons, stating in June that he hoped a nuclear exchange between Moscow and the West would never occur.