Russian official Sergei Ryabkov, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has recently warned that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) underestimates Russia's nuclear threats.
Amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, prominent Russian officials such as Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, and Valentina Matviyenko, a senator from St. Petersburg and the chairwoman of the Federation Council, have made threats of nuclear weapons use if Moscow is provoked by another country.
Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, told Channel One, a Russian state-controlled TV channel, that the Russia-Ukraine war has shown that Moscow's nuclear doctrine is "insufficient," adding that NATO member states "ignore our potential in this area," TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, reported on Friday.
"The experience gained during the special military operation has also shown that the overly general wording which is enshrined in our core doctrinal nuclear documents is insufficient," Ryabkov said.
He continued: "The fact that the West, and first and foremost NATO countries, ignore our potential in this area and that this group has some gut feeling that things won't end in the worst-case scenario, no matter how they mock common sense, makes it necessary to say more clearly, more distinctly and more precisely what may happen provided that they persist in this."
Newsweek reached out to the Russian government and NATO via online form for comment.
Meanwhile, Putin said in a meeting with senior editors from international news agencies in Saint Petersburg in early June, "For some reason, the West believes that Russia will never use it," referring to Russia's nuclear doctrine.
He added: "We have a nuclear doctrine, look what it says. If someone's actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible for us to use all means at our disposal. This should not be taken lightly, superficially," Reuters reported.
If Putin were to strike against a NATO country, the United States would be required to directly intervene due to Article 5 of the treaty, which states if one NATO country is under attack, all member states must come to its aid.
However, last December, Putin said on Russian state TV that he has no plans to attack NATO countries. "Russia has no reason, no interest—no geopolitical interest, neither economic, political nor military—to fight with NATO countries," Putin said.
Meanwhile, Russia conducted nuclear-weapon drills in late May. Russia's defense ministry said when announcing the drills earlier that month that the exercises were connected to "provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation."
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Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
