Vladimir Putin provided more details about the changes in nuclear doctrine Russian that could apply soon, as announced days ago during the economic forum held in Saint Petersburg.
The current doctrine establishes that Russia can use nuclear weapons if it is a response to an attack of this nature or before a conventional offensive that poses an existential threat to the country. Since the start of the war in Ukraine and with the rise of tensions with the West, many military analysts in Moscow began to call for a reduction of this threshold, to guarantee greater security in the territory and dissuade enemies from any action.
However, in the last few hours, the Kremlin leader, who is in the middle of a tour that took him through North Korea and Vietnam, ruled out that modifications will be made in this area, precisely around the possibility of action in the form of a preventive attack.
“For now we do not need a preemptive strike because the enemy will inevitably be destroyed during a retaliatory attack“, he said during a press conference in Hanoi, in full confidence in his counterattack ability.
Instead, he continued, changes could be expected in attempts by Western allies to “reduce the threshold of use” of these weapons, which has become one of the great concerns of the international community in recent years. “We know that among Western experts ideas are being considered of certain types of nuclear weapons that could be used and that would not be something especially serious… It may not be serious but we are obliged to pay attention to that and we do it,” he explained.
Faced with this position of his adversaries, who “increase tension, escalate the situation and, apparently, hope that at some point we will get scared,” Putin warned that “Russian strategic nuclear forces are always on alert” and “we are “There is little concern about what Western countries do.”
In any case, he took advantage of his intervention before an allied nation to reinforce his enmity against the international community, which seeks “the strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield,” which would represent “the end of its existence as a State”. “This means the end of the millennia-long history of the Russian state. I think this is understandable for everyone.. It will be a global catastrophe (…) as Russian head of state I want to ask: Why do we need a world in which Russia does not exist?”, he questioned.
Prior to his visit to Vietnam, Putin met with his counterpart Kim Jong-unwith whom he signed a “strategic partnership” agreement, which provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression. Likewise, it does not rule out send weapons to Pyongyang as a sign of gratitude for the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
“We reserve the right to supply weapons to other regions of the world and I do not rule this out in view of our agreement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” he commented.
(With information from EFE and Reuters)
