Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia could use nuclear weapons if attacked by any country, and that any conventional attack on Russia backed by a nuclear force would be considered joint attack, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Opening a meeting of Russia's Security Council, in the presence of senior Russian officials, Putin said proposals had been made to change Russia's nuclear doctrine, and said he would like to highlight one of the key proposed changes.
"It is proposed that aggression against Russia, carried out 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 noted.
"The conditions under which Russia will switch to using nuclear weapons are clearly fixed,", the Russian president added. He stressed that Moscow would consider such a move if it detected the beginning of a massive launch of missiles, planes or unmanned aerial vehicles against it.
Russia also reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if it or Belarus becomes the target of aggression, including with conventional weapons, Putin noted. According to him, the explanations are carefully measured and correspond to the modern military threats that Russia is facing.