At the beginning of the Ukraine war, the Kremlin chief put his own nuclear forces on alert. The US, Britain and France have accused Russia of “dangerous” rhetoric on nuclear weapons. Putin himself has now emphasized that there are no winners in a nuclear war.
Despite the war in Ukraine, Russia has confirmed that it does not want to start a nuclear war. “We assume that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and that it must never be started,” President Vladimir Putin wrote in a greeting to participants at the NPT conference in New York published today on the Kremlin’s website.
In doing so, he countered fears that had been growing since the beginning of the war that Moscow might use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The USA, Great Britain and France, meanwhile, accused Russia of “irresponsible and dangerous” rhetoric about nuclear weapons in a joint statement on the occasion of the UN conference. Earlier statements by Kremlin chief Putin that military aid could have unprecedented consequences for Ukraine are “dangerous nuclear saber-rattling,” said US Secretary of State Blinken.
According to Russian sources, shortly after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Putin ordered the country’s nuclear forces to be put on high alert. Since then, Putin has also threatened to react “quickly as lightning” in the event of a direct Western military intervention in the Ukraine conflict. In May, Russian journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov warned that the Kremlin’s “propaganda warriors” were trying to make the use of nuclear weapons more acceptable to the Russian public. Russia’s leadership had previously always ruled out a nuclear first strike and presented operational plans only for a so-called counter-strike, i.e. the military response to an attack.
Putin has now stressed that Russia is fulfilling and will continue to fulfill its obligations as a founding member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. At the same time, the Kremlin chief called for “equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community.” In addition, all countries that comply with the provisions of the NPT should have access to civil nuclear power.
Putin’s demand may have been aimed at Iran’s civilian nuclear program, which is supported by Russia. The Kremlin chief had already called for a revival of the nuclear agreement with Iran in mid-July. Russia is Iran’s most important partner in the civilian nuclear program. Meanwhile, Tehran has signaled that they are definitely aiming for an end to the nuclear dispute and a comprehensive agreement.
