Putin: We’re considering changes to our nuclear doctrine

During his visit to Vietnam, at press conference in Hanoi, the Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed Russia’s consideration of modifications to its nuclear doctrine.

Putin stressed that these changes won’t include the introduction of pre-emptive strikes, noting that the current international circumstances call for a reconsideration of some aspects of the doctrine.

Putin, who arrived in the Vietnamese capital from North Korea, has made clear that Russia is seeking to modernize its nuclear doctrine because its adversaries have lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

Putin stressed that Russian forces are equipped to repel any possible attack with strong retaliatory strikes, and don’t see the need to include the concept of pre-emptive nuclear strike in their doctrine.

During the press conference, Putin addressed the comments of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the status of the alliance’s nuclear forces on alert and stressed that Russia is carefully monitoring these movements and will respond appropriately if necessary.

Putin touched on possible peace talks with Ukraine, stressing Russia’s readiness to negotiate anytime and anywhere and indicated that he expects opposition from the West to the Russian peace initiative, expressing surprise that the Russian proposal is considered unrealistic, while he didn’t criticize the Ukrainian ultimatum in the same way, although this ultimatum includes unacceptable conditions for Moscow.

Speaking at a previous meeting with Foreign Ministry staff in Moscow, Putin stressed that Russia will immediately stop military operations if Ukraine abandons its intention to join NATO and withdraws its troops from the Russian-annexed areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia in September 2022, demands that Kiev rejected.

Putin warned at the press conference that the conditions may change according to the developments of the situation on the ground, stressing that linking Kiev to peace negotiations with the withdrawal of Russian troops would mean that talks would never take place.

Putin indicated his expectations about the possibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being replaced by the West in the first half of 2025.

Putin pointed to Russia and North Korea signing a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement during his visit to Pyongyang and said the agreement, a renewal of a 1962 agreement, had caused resentment in the West even though it was only an update of an old agreement.

Putin stressed that North Korea has similar agreements with other countries, noting that the provision on mutual military assistance in the agreement provides for support only in the event of military aggression by either country, and isn’t related to the conflict in Ukraine.

As such, Russia seems to continue to strengthen its strategic and military ties in the Far East, while sending a clear message to the world that it has future plans based on strengthening national security and modernizing military doctrine.