NEWSWEEK
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has warned that Moscow could amend its nuclear doctrine due to “the unacceptable and escalatory actions” of the West.
Ryabkov’s warnings come days after President Vladimir Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that his country’s nuclear doctrine is “a living instrument” that can be changed and that Moscow was “carefully watching what is happening in the world, around us.”
The deputy foreign minister didn’t elaborate on what specific changes could be made, but said recent actions by the U.S. and Ukraine’s other NATO allies were forcing Moscow to think the decision through.
“The challenges that are multiplying as a result of the unacceptable and escalatory actions of the United States and its NATO allies, without any doubt, raise before us the full question of how the basic documents in the field of nuclear deterrence can be brought more into line with current needs,” Ryabkov said.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN NEWSWEEK
