Moscow will use nuclear weapons in Ukraine only in the event of an “existential threat” against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN International on Tuesday.
“We have an internal security doctrine, it is public, you can read there all the reasons for the use of nuclear weapons. And if it is an existential threat to our country, then they can be used in accordance with our doctrine,” explained Dmitry Peskov. The journalist asked the Kremlin spokesperson to say whether he was “confident” or “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
A few days after the start of the war launched on February 24, and while the Russian army encountered unexpected resistance from the Ukrainian security forces, the Russian president had put all the components of the nuclear deterrent force on alert, triggering a chorus of international protests. The fears relate in particular to the possible use by Moscow of small-scale nuclear weapons.
The Ukrainian army above?
“We are monitoring this daily and as best we can. We have seen nothing that leads us to conclude that we need to change our strategic deterrence posture,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday. According to the US Department of Defense, the Ukrainian army, which retains control of the major urban centers, has even been in a position in recent days to carry out some counter-offensives which have enabled it, in the south in particular, to regain ground. on Russian troops.
The operations “are continuing strictly in accordance with what was planned,” Dmitri Peskov told CNN International on the contrary. According to the spokesperson, the Russian army continues to seek to “eliminate the military potential of Ukraine”, one of the “main objectives of the operation”.
To do this, Russian forces “target only military objectives and objects on the territory of Ukraine, not (goals) civilians”, he assured, despite accusations from NGOs widely documented and relayed by several governments, in particular British and American, of attacks on civilians. An “occupation” of Ukraine is also not among the Kremlin’s objectives, he continued.