Putin issues warning to US with new nuclear doctrine

Dmitry Peskovkremlin spokesman

A new escalation is taking place. That's a very irresponsible position that the outgoing US administration is taking. They are continuing to add fuel to the fire of this conflict, in every possible way preventing any momentum towards its conclusion, while using Ukraine as a tool in their hands in their war with Russia,

Peskov said

I wouldn't want to say anything additional on this topic, which is the prerogative of our military and the defence ministry".

At the same time, the Kremlin spokesperson deferred comment on Ukraine's use of Western-supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles to the Russian military, stating

The problem for the Kremlin, of course, is whether the threat of nuclear retaliation to Ukraine striking targets inside Russia with Western conventional weapons is a credible threat,

said Kristensen

Russia's willingness to climb the nuclear ladder to a great extent comes down to the thinking and the predilections of one man, Vladimir Putin,

said Episkopos

The Russian perception that this is a step by the Biden administration to tie Trump's hands when he gets into office,

said Episkopos from the Quincy Institute

I'm somewhat astounded about the details and very broad scenarios described in the document,

said Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

It goes far beyond what we have seen in documents from other nuclear-armed states,

he told Newsweek

The West would have to believe that Putin would actually order the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation for a very limited conventional attack that does not in any way threaten Russia's survival or its ability to operate its nuclear forces,

he said

Since there’s little Russia can do in response in practical terms, it turns to threatening language on paper to undermine the resolve of the outgoing Biden administration. That’s understandable — direct and indirect nuclear threats have been so effective in the past in deterring Biden from backing Ukraine fully, that it would be disappointing for Moscow if this latest move didn’t make a difference,

Giles told NBC News

Russia’s move will tie in with the campaign by its backers in the West to paint the easing of restrictions on ATACMS strikes into Russia as a dangerous escalation,

said Keir Giles, senior consulting fellow with the London-based think-tank Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia program

Lloyd Austindefense Secretary

He has rattled his nuclear saber quite a bit and this is dangerous behavior,

Austin said of Putin

Dmitry Medvedevformer russian President

Russia’s new nuclear doctrine means NATO missiles fired against our country could be deemed an attack by the bloc on Russia,

former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

It would be a serious gamble,

Podvig, a senior researcher at the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research, said in an email

Vladimir Putinpresident

Our enemies are forced to admit that the determination of the Russian President to firmly defend the fundamental interests of the country by all available means narrows the room for maneuver for Washington and Brussels. Attempts by individual NATO allies to participate in providing for possible long-range strikes with Western weapons deep into Russian territory will not go unpunished,

Putin's spy chief Sergei Naryshkin said in an interview with the magazine National Defense

The doctrinal changes have indeed been in the works for some time. It does appear that the timing of the decree was chosen deliberately, to send a (strong) signal of disapproval of the decision to give the authorization,

said Pavel Podvig, an expert on Russia's nuclear forces

I don’t see a change in their strategic force posture and so we’ll continue to remain vigilant in this regard,

he said on the 1,000th day since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor

Russia could retaliate with WMD against Kiev and key NATO facilities, wherever they’re located. That means World War III,

added Medvedev, who is now the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council

Russia has been using a number of delivery systems of missiles that [can] also come with a nuclear warhead. So these are dual capable systems. For example, Iskander M short range ballistic missiles. Those have been used extensively in this war by Russia. So when we have an incoming from Russia to Ukraine and we see that it's an Iskander missile, we don't know if it's nuclear tipped or conventionally tipped,

Budjeryn said

He keeps playing and pretending like he's going to do something,

Ustinova said

This is the latest instance of a long string of nuclear rhetoric and signaling that has been coming out of Moscow since the beginning of this full scale invasion,

Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate at Harvard's Belfer Center, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle when the change to Russia's nuclear doctrine was first proposed last month