World War 3 fears have exploded once again after the Kremlin furiously blamed Western governments for its decision to amend its nuclear weapons doctrine.
Last week, Vladimir Putin warned Russia could respond to conventional missile strikes with nuclear weapons, effectively lowering the threshold for a strike and putting the world on a path toward nuclear war.
The move came as calls increase for Ukraine to be allowed to use western supplied missiles deep inside Russia, something that they are currently unable to do.
The Kremlin’s decision was slammed by western governments, but a spokesperson has shifted the blame back towards the west.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned, according to state-run TASS news agency: “Western hardliners are pushing on with this reckless policy course that may have very negative consequences for everybody. The developments have clearly necessitated formalizing new terms.
“How things evolved globally, the way tensions intensified near our borders, with nuclear powers taking part in the conflict around Ukraine and NATO pulling its infrastructure to our borders – all this has necessitated amendments to the nuclear doctrine.”
Peskov also confirmed that the amendments will be ratified soon.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has slammed Putin’s nuclear announcement, branding it “irresponsible”.
He told the BBC: “I think a lot of people in the world were clear about that when he rattled off nuclear weapons earlier, including China.”
Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed this, and said: “Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and reckless. We are closely watching what Russia is doing.”
Last week’s amendment saw Russia claim that any attack on sovereign Russia enabled by NATO countries would constitute an act of war and enable Russian forces to initiate a nuclear response.
Putin has said that the launch of non-nuclear weapons enabled by NATO countries could be enough to respond with nuclear weapons.
