Changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine have been drafted and will be approved if necessary, the Kremlin said today, again signaling Moscow's concern from the latest US decision on Ukraine, reported Reuters.
"The changes have already been practically formulated. They will be formalized if necessary," Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency TASS.
Yesterday, the Kremlin called "reckless" the decision by President Joe Biden's administration to allow Ukraine to launch US missiles deep into Russian territory and warned that Moscow would respond.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine 1,000 days ago, has repeatedly warned that the West is playing with fire by testing the limits of what nuclear power can or cannot tolerate.
In September, President Vladimir Putin said Western approval of Ukraine's use of long-range missiles would mean "direct involvement of NATO countries, the US and European countries in the war", as military infrastructure and personnel of NATO will have to participate in the guidance and launch of the missiles.
Biden's decision followed months of calls by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow the Ukrainian military to use American weapons to strike Russian military targets far from its border.
The US decision was made largely in response to the deployment of North Korean ground troops in support of Russia. This was a development that caused alarm in Washington and Kiev, Reuters noted, citing its sources.
Just weeks before the US presidential election on November 5, Putin ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine and said that any conventional attack on Russia backed by nuclear power could be considered a joint attack on Russia.
Western analysts called the changes in the doctrine an escalation of Moscow's attempts to dissuade the West from expanding its military aid to Ukraine. Full details of the revised doctrine have not yet been made public.
The war in Ukraine has caused the worst crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Reuters notes.
Peskov told TASS today that Moscow is ready to normalize its relations with Washington. "However, we cannot dance the tango alone. And we won't do it," said Peskov.