Putin issues warning to US with new nuclear doctrine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday approved an updated nuclear doctrine, saying that Russia could consider using nuclear weapons if it was subject to a conventional missile assault on it supported by a nuclear power.

The decision to change Russia's official nuclear doctrine is the Kremlin's answer to a reported decision by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to fire American long-range missiles deep into Russia.

The updated doctrine, which outlines the threats which would make Russia's leadership consider a nuclear strike, said an attack with conventional missiles, drones or other aircraft could be considered to meet these criteria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Yevgeny Balitsky, Moscow-installed governor of the Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region (not pictured), amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 18, 2024.Reuters

It also said any aggression against Russia by a state which was a member of a coalition would be considered by Moscow to be aggression against it by the whole coalition.

Just weeks before the November U.S. presidential elections, Putin ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine to say that any conventional attack on Russia aided by a nuclear power could be considered to be a joint attack on Russia.

The 2-1/2-year-old Ukraine war has triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis - considered to be the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to intentional nuclear war.

Ukraine vows 'no surrender'

Ukraine said Tuesday that its forces would never surrender to Russia, as President Volodymyr Zelensky published images of rescue workers hauling bodies from the debris and called on Kyiv's allies to "force" the Kremlin into peace.

The foreign ministry echoed Zelensky's comments in a statement marking the anniversary by calling on allies to ramp up their military support to bring about a "sustainable" end to the war.

"Ukraine will never submit to the occupiers, and the Russian military will be punished for violating international law," the ministry said.

"We need peace through strength, not appeasement," the ministry added, referring to growing calls for Ukraine to sit down at the negotiating table with Russia to end the war.

Russia vows to defeat Ukraine

"The military operation against Kyiv continues ... and will be completed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, using Russia's preferred language for its invasion.

The comments came as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree broadening the scope for when Moscow will consider using nuclear weapons in a clear warning to the West and Ukraine.

The Kremlin says the move, which enables Russia to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state if they are supported by nuclear powers, was "necessary to bring our principles in line with the current situation."

It comes just after the United States gave Kyiv permission to use long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russia.