In a stern warning to the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin said a conventional attack on Russia by any country backed by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack against Russia.
Putin’s announcement came at the same time the Biden administration announced $375 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine, including air-to-ground weapons, rocket systems and ammunition for artillery, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.
The warning came at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council where President Putin announced revisions to the country’s nuclear policy.
Putin said the revised document now states that an attack on Russia by a non-nuclear state with the “participation or support of a nuclear state” would be considered a “joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting in the Novo-Ogaryovo district near Moscow. (Gabriel Grigorov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Putin stressed that the revised conditions for the use of nuclear weapons were set out in more detail and that nuclear weapons could be used in the event of a large-scale air attack.
He said the amendment “clearly states the conditions under which Russia would use nuclear weapons.”
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Listing “strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic aircraft and other flying objects,” Putin added that “we will consider such a possibility if we receive reliable information about a large-scale launch of air and space offensive assets and their crossing our country’s borders.”


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City. (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
The Kremlin’s revised nuclear response doctrine paves the way for major nuclear powers to relax their declaratory policies, which one expert warned is “never a good thing.”
“Whether you think this is a bluff or not, it’s never a good thing when a major nuclear power relaxes the conditions for nuclear use in its declaratory policy,” Samuel Sharap, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, said in a post on X.
The $375 million aid package for Ukraine was announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken late Wednesday.


President Biden spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City earlier this week. (Getty Images)
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“The United States is committed to defending Ukraine against Russia’s brutal aggression,” Blinken said in a statement. “We will deploy this new assistance as quickly as possible to help Ukraine defend its territory and its people.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris in Washington on Thursday to discuss whether to allow his country’s military to use long-range weapons to strike deeper inside Russian territory.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.