The Russians have been signaling repeatedly in the runup to the NATO summit, scheduled for July 9-11 in Washington, D.C., that the alliance is playing with nuclear fire in the escalation of its war, using Ukraine as its proxy against Russia. The latest such signal comes from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
“The latest experience, in particular, that gained in the special military operation and an analysis of the collective West’s behavioral model show that it is necessary to specify some parameters applicable to situations described both in the military doctrine as such and in the fundamentals of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence,” Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow yesterday, reported TASS. This work “goes on but has not been completed,” he remarked
“Our specialists who are responsible for the nuclear component in Russia’s military system primarily seek to ensure that this work should proceed systematically and with maximum responsibility,” the high-ranking Russian diplomat said. In this context, Ryabkov said he was confident that both Russia’s partners and opponents “understand well the significance that we attach to the nuclear deterrence factor.”
On June 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an extensive dialogue at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with moderator Sergey Karaganov stressed that the conditions for Russian use of nuclear weapons doesn’t exist at present but that those conditions could change. “We have a nuclear doctrine, and everything is laid out there. I discussed this yesterday with the heads of news agencies. It states clearly: nuclear weapons can be used only in exceptional cases—when there is a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, in exceptional circumstances,” he said.
