US official: No change in Russia's nuclear posture, Biden administration maintains course

A US National Security Council official, speaking anonymously, stated that there has been no change to Russia's nuclear posture, and as a result, the Biden administration sees no reason to adjust its own nuclear posture or doctrine in response to Russia's recent statements.

Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute defense and security think tank in the UK, said the use of Western longer-range missiles “certainly will not” trigger Moscow’s nuclear response as some in the West feared, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

Thus, the doctrine says Moscow could use nuclear weapons “in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction” against Russia or its allies, as well as “in the event of aggression” against Russia and Belarus with conventional weapons that threaten “their sovereignty and/or territorial integrity.”

On November 19, President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows US President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles.

The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.

Commenting on whether the updated doctrine was deliberately issued to follow Biden’s decision, Peskov said the document was published “in a timely manner” and that Putin instructed the government to update it earlier this year so that it is “in line with the current situation.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine fired six US-made ATACMS missiles early November 19 at a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, adding that air defenses shot down five of them and damaged one more. Ukraine’s military claimed the strike hit a Russian ammunition depot.

While the doctrine envisions a possible nuclear response by Russia to such a conventional strike, it is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Putin’s options open.

By Aghakazim Guliyev