In a message loaded with symbolism, which is focused on lowering pressure but at the same time fueling global alert, Russia clarified on Tuesday that it will only use nuclear weapons in Ukraine if it faces an “existential threat.”
To leave no doubt that it is a direct instruction from Valdimir Putin, one of his highest officials was delegated to clarify.
Indeed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told CNN International that “we have an internal security doctrine, and it is public, you can read in it all the reasons for the use of nuclear weapons.”
And immediately afterwards he launched the phrase that has the world on alert again: “If it is an existential threat to our country, then it can be used (the nuclear arsenal) in accordance with our doctrine.”
The network got that answer after asking the Kremlin spokesman if he was “convinced” that President Putin – a person very close to him – would not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine –which began on February 24–, while the Russian army encountered resistance from Ukrainian forces, Putin put all components of the nuclear deterrent force on alert, raising a chorus of complaints international.
Fears are due to the possibility of Moscow resorting to small nuclear weapons.
“We monitor this as best we can on a daily basis. We haven’t seen anything that would lead us to conclude that we should change our strategic deterrence posture,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.
According to the Pentagon, the Ukrainian army, which maintains control of the main urban centers, has recently regained the conditions to carry out military counteroffensives that are already allowing it to recover ground, especially in the south of the country.
But, contrary to the US position, Peskov warned that the operations of the Russian forces “proceed strictly as planned”.
According to the spokesman, the Russian army continues to seek to “eliminate Ukraine’s military potential”, one of the “main objectives of the operation” which, in reality, ended up being a premeditated invasion of a sovereign nation.
To do this, the Russian forces “only target military targets and objects on the territory of Ukraine, not civilians,” said the Russian spokesman, despite accusations widely documented and taken up by various governments, in particular the British and the American, of attacks against civilians.
An “occupation” of Ukraine is not among the Kremlin’s goals, he added.
Military experts believe that the Russian army suffers from logistical and communication problems and therefore would not have enough ammunition and supplies to get through another three days of war.
Zelensky and the Pope spoke
In his second call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Pope Francis reinforced what that country has called the “support” of the top leader of the Catholic Church for the end of the war.
According to the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yuash, both authorities “had a promising conversation. The pope said that he is praying and doing everything possible for the end of the war and Zelensky reiterated that his Holiness is the most awaited guest in Ukraine”.
The first conversation, which took place on February 26 when the war was just beginning, also took place in diplomatic terms and with the Pope’s call to travel in peace.
But those have not been the only gestures of the pontiff towards Ukraine. This Saturday, the Pope decided to appear at the Vatican pediatric hospital in Rome to visit Ukrainian children who have fled their country after the Russian invasion.
For now, the UN refugee agency raised 3.5 million Ukrainian refugees in the world, and the number continues to grow by thousands every day.