Russia Reveals When It Will Employ The Use Of Nuclear Weapons

• Putin had announced on February 28 that he had put Russia’s strategic nuclear forces on high alert in a move that sparked global alarm

• It maintains the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear warheads

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Russia has said it would only use nuclear weapons in the context of the Ukraine conflict if it were facing an “existential threat.

“We have a concept of domestic security, and it’s public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN International on Tuesday. “So if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept.”

Read also: Ukraine Crisis: Russian Troops Plant Mines As They Prepare For Long War Of Attrition In Ukraine

Peskov’s comment came as interviewer Christiane Amanpour pushed him on whether he was “convinced or confident” that President Vladimir Putin would not use the nuclear option in the Ukrainian context.

Days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Putin announced on February 28 that he had put the country’s strategic nuclear forces on high alert in a move that sparked global alarm.

Asked about Peskov’s statement, and Russia’s nuclear stance more broadly, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby called Moscow’s rhetoric on potential use of nuclear weapons “dangerous.”

“It’s not the way a responsible nuclear power should act,” he told reporters.

That said, Kirby stressed that Pentagon officials “haven’t seen anything that would lead us to conclude that we need to change our strategic deterrent posture.”

“We monitor this as best we can every day,” he added.

Russia maintains the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, and has earned minimal support around the world for its attack on its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Western defense officials said following Putin’s February announcement that they had not seen any significant sign of mobilization of Russia’s nuclear forces — its strategic bombers, missiles and submarines.

But Moscow has also warned that if the United States and NATO allies supplied Ukraine with fighter jets, it could escalate and expand the war, potentially putting Russia in direct confrontation with nuclear-armed rivals in the West.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: West Condemns Russia as Ukraine Suffering Deepens

Click to watch our video of the week