Russia said Tuesday at the United Nations that the conflict in Ukraine does not justify Russia’s use of nuclear weapons, but that Moscow may decide to use its nuclear arsenal in response to “direct aggression” by NATO countries over the attack on Ukraine.
At a conference on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Russian diplomat Alexander Trofimov dismissed “speculation that Russia is threatening to use weapons.”
Nuclear power, especially in Ukraine,” she said, adding that it was “absolutely unfounded, detached from reality and unacceptable.”
Destruction in Ukraine as a result of Russian bombing
Within days of the Russian attack on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin put Russia’s deterrent forces – which include nuclear weapons – on high alert, citing what he described as aggressive statements by NATO leaders and Western economic sanctions on Moscow.
Trofimov, a senior diplomat in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department, said Moscow would only use nuclear weapons in response to weapons of mass destruction or an attack with conventional weapons that threaten the existence of the Russian state.
“None of these two hypothetical possibilities is relevant to the situation in Ukraine,” Trofimov told the United Nations Conference to Review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
But he accused NATO countries of entering into “Fierce confrontation” with RussiaIt is now “on the verge of an open military clash,” as he put it.
“Such a move might trigger one of the two emergency possibilities described in our (military) doctrine. We are obviously working to prevent this, but if Western countries try to test our resolve, Russia will not back down,” he added.
On Tuesday, Russia accused the United States of direct involvement in the Ukraine war.
