The revised policy states that a "critical threat" to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Belarus or Russia could now justify the use of nuclear weapons—a notable shift from the previous requirement of an existential threat to the Russian state alone.
Clearer definition of ‘potential adversaries’
For the first time, the doctrine explicitly identifies potential adversaries subject to nuclear deterrence. It states that aggression against Russia by any member of a military alliance will be considered an act of aggression by the entire alliance.
The document further specifies that "nuclear deterrence" may target "individual states and military coalitions that consider the Russian Federation a potential adversary and possess nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction or significant conventional forces."
NATO response?
When asked about the implications of Russia’s updated doctrine, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, speaking at an EU defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, stressed that decisions on whether to permit Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons on Russian soil remain at the discretion of individual member states.
Rutte urged against overanalyzing such scenarios publicly, cautioning that it could "unnecessarily make our adversaries smarter."
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Source: PAP