Putin has raised the possibility of Russia abandoning its nuclear doctrine of “no first use.”

CNN — Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the prospect of formally changing Russia’s military doctrine of not being the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict for the second time this week, just days after warning of the “increasing” threat of nuclear war.

“They (the US) have it in their strategy, it’s written in the documents – a preventive blow.” We don’t. We, on the other hand, have planned a retaliatory strike,” Putin said at a news conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Even if Russia retaliated immediately upon seeing nuclear missiles launched at it, Putin stated that “the fall of enemy missile warheads on Russian Federation territory is unavoidable – they will still fall.”

Putin stated that the United States’ policy does not rule out the possibility of a “disarming” nuclear strike, whereas Russia’s doctrine is to use nuclear weapons only as a last resort.

“So, if we’re talking about this disarming strike, perhaps we should consider adopting the best practices of our American partners and their ideas for ensuring their security.” We’re just thinking about it. “No one was shy when they talked about it out loud in previous times and years,” he said.

“If a potential adversary believes it is possible to use the theory of a preventive strike and we do not, then this still makes us think about the threats that are posed to us,” he added.

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Putin sips champagne while defending the assault on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
Biden administration officials have previously stated that Moscow has been warned at the highest levels of the consequences of using nuclear weapons in the war.

On Wednesday, Putin warned of the “increasing” threat of nuclear war, but stopped short of promising that Russia would not be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.

“As for the idea that Russia would not use such weapons first under any circumstances, that means we wouldn’t be able to be the second to use them either — because the possibility of doing so in the event of an attack on our territory would be very limited,” he said Wednesday.

Putin’s remarks come as the war enters its winter phase, with Russia continuing to shell eastern and southern Ukraine – and facing attacks on its own soil.

On Monday, Russia launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the strikes caused widespread power outages in several regions, including Kyiv and Odesa.

Russia said this week that it was the target of several drone attacks that targeted military infrastructure.

The Russian Defense Ministry blamed the attacks on Ukraine, which has yet to comment publicly on the explosions.