Russia hints at changing stance on using nuclear weapons

Russia has again hinted that it’s making changes to its official stance on the use of nuclear weapons, amid Ukraine’s continuing incursion into its Kursk border region.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Sunday that Russia is in the process of amending its nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions in which nuclear weapons can be used, because of what Russia sees as a Western-backed “escalation” of the war with Ukraine.

Russia accused the West of encouraging Ukraine’s cross-border raid that has seen its forces seize almost 500 square miles of Russian territory since it began on Aug. 6. Ukraine’s NATO allies deny having any prior knowledge of the operation, or any hand in its offensive.

Speaking to Russian state media agency TASS on Sunday, Ryabkov said work was “at an advanced stage” to amend Russia’s nuclear doctrine governing the use of nuclear weapons.

“There is a clear direction to make adjustments, which are also conditioned by the study and analysis of the experience of conflict development in recent years, including … everything related to the escalation course of our Western opponents in connection with the SVO [special military operation],” Ryabkov said, referring to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Ryabkov did not specify when any changes would be finalized, saying, “the time for completing this work is a rather difficult question, given that we are talking about the most important aspects of ensuring our national security,” he said, in comments translated by Google.

Russian saber-rattling over the use of nuclear weapons is nothing new but Ryabkov’s comments, which echo recent statements made by senior officials and the Kremlin, point to Russia preparing the ground for changes to state policy regarding the conditions in which it would be acceptable to use nuclear weapons.

Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory, and its targeting of military facilities and infrastructure using Western-supplied weaponry, particularly in the case of long-range missiles, has also upped the ante as to whether Moscow would consider using nuclear weapons to defend its own territory.

As it stands, Russia’s nuclear doctrine states that Russia “reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and/or its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation using conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is threatened.”

Other conditions that could determine the use of nuclear weapons by Russia include the “receipt of reliable information about the launch of…