O Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Friday that there is no need to use nuclear weapons to give Moscow victory in Ukraine, in what is, so far, the strongest signal from the Kremlin chief that there will not be a nuclear attack.

Putin’s response was given to a question from Sergei Karaganov, an influential Russian analyst, who asked whether the Russian leader should hold a “nuclear pistol to the temple” of the West over Ukraine.

“The use is possible in an exceptional case – in the case of a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. I do not believe that such a case has come. There is no such need,” said the Russian leader, quoted by Reuters, in statements at the Forum St. Petersburg International Economic Office.

However, Putin, who leads the world’s largest nuclear power, highlighted that he does not exclude the possibility of changing Russian nuclear doctrine, which establishes the conditions under which these weapons can be used, but that “so far, there is no need for this either “.

“This doctrine is a living instrument and we are closely observing what is happening in the world around us and we do not exclude the possibility of introducing some changes to this doctrine. This is also related to the testing of nuclear weapons. So far, neither there is a need for this, since our computing and information capabilities allow us to produce everything in its current form”, he stressed,

The Russian president, whose forces have made advances in eastern Ukraine in recent months, also asked people to stop discussing the nuclear issue.

Russian nuclear doctrine published in 2020

Russian nuclear doctrine published in 2020 defines the conditions under which a Russian president would consider using a nuclear weapon: broadly speaking, in response to an attack with nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is threatened.”

Interviewer Sergei Karaganov, an influential Russian analyst, last year proposed a limited nuclear strike on a member of the Western North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance in Europe to force the West to back down from the conflict over Ukraine and thus avoid the Third World War.

Last week, United States President Joe Biden eased some restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American weapons within Russia, prompting Moscow to warn of a potentially dangerous escalation of the conflict.

For his part, Putin also said on Wednesday that he could bring conventional missiles within striking distance of the United States and its European allies if they allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia with long-range Western weapons. Putin further stated that the West was wrong in assuming that Russia would never use nuclear weapons.

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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2576687/putin-afirma-que-nao-existe-necessidade-do-uso-de-armas-nucleares

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