Photo courtesy of the press service of the Kremlin
MOSCOW, 26 September (BelTA) – Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Russian Federation Security Council standing conference on nuclear deterrence, BelTA learned from the press service of the Kremlin.
“We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Russia and Belarus that is a member of the Union State. All these issues have been agreed upon with the Belarusian side and the president of Belarus. This includes the case when the enemy, using conventional weapons, creates a critical threat to our sovereignty,” Vladimir Putin said. The transcript of his speech was published on the Kremlin website.
The Russian head of state suggested amendments to the Russian nuclear doctrine. Thus, the draft Basic Principles expand the group of states and military alliances in respect of which nuclear deterrence is exercised and expand the list of military threats to be neutralized by nuclear deterrence measures.
“I would like to draw your attention to the following. The updated document is supposed to view an aggression against Russia from any non-nuclear state involving or supported by any nuclear state as their joint attack against the Russian Federation,” the Russian leader emphasized.
“The conditions that will prompt Russia to resort to nuclear weapons are also clearly set out. We will consider this possibility upon receiving reliable information about a massive launch of air and space attack weapons and their crossing our state border. I mean strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft,” Vladimir Putin said.
He added that all the updates had been deeply calibrated and are measured against contemporary military threats and risks to the Russian Federation.
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