Putin’s nuclear threats: empty rhetoric or a shift in battlefield strategy?
President Vladimir Putin made a chilling declaration this week when he proposed changes to Russia’s nuclear war policies. One of the most concerning was the possibility of mobilising the country’s nuclear arsenal if another nuclear power supports a non-nuclear state’s attack on Russia. The comments marked a clear escalation in Moscow’s rhetoric, but some experts say there is a world of difference between Putin’s declarations and the hidden rules of nuclear doctrine.
Is the world approaching the brink of nuclear disaster or is Putin merely bluffing when he talks about playing the nuclear card?
This time, however, the world seemed to pay more attention. In Britain, the BBC headlined with “Putin proposes new rules for using nuclear weapons” and US public broadcaster PBS declared that “Putin lowers nuclear response threshold”.
These reactions stemmed from the fact that Russia revised its nuclear doctrine to add three new points in conjunction with Putin’s speech, according to Ulrich Kuhn, head of the arms control and emerging technologies programme at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.
In his declaration at Russia’s Security Council, Putin said that Moscow now reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if an ally – i.e., Belarus – comes under attack.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
Read also:
Putin calls for changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, widening net for ‘aggressor’ states
Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’: Is the war in Ukraine reaching its endgame?
‘Ukraine will prevail,’ Biden tells Zelensky after pledging $8 billion in military aid to Kyiv
