JAKARTA - Russia's deputy foreign minister said the decision on the possible use of nuclear weapons, clearly provided for in their military doctrine, answered the question of whether Moscow would rule it out in Ukraine.
"We have military doctrine, everything is written there," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Reuters from RIA state news agency May 10.
Russia's official military deployment principles allow the use of nuclear weapons if they, or other types of weapons of mass destruction, are used against them, or if the Russian state faces an existential threat from conventional weapons.
However, the decision to use Russia's massive nuclear arsenal, the largest in the world, rests with the current president, Vladimir Putin.
The Russian invasion has killed thousands, displaced nearly 10 million and raised fears of a wider confrontation between Russia and the United States, by far the world's largest nuclear power.
As previously reported, the use of Russian nuclear weapons in Ukraine has been ruled out because it is incompatible with the objectives of special military operations, said Deputy Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexey Zaitsev.
"The scenarios for the use of our potential nuclear weapons are clearly defined in Russian doctrinal documents. They do not apply to the implementation of the tasks set out in special military operations in Ukraine," he explained, TASS reported.
The Russian diplomat further emphasized that his party is ready to anticipate various provocations made by the West and Ukraine.
"We must be ready with all developments in the media room and directly on the field," he said.
"Russia firmly adheres to the principle that there can be no victor in a nuclear war and it must not be let go," Zaitsev said.
Separately, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns said on Saturday President Putin believes he must not lose in Ukraine, warning the West cannot ignore the risks of Moscow's use of tactical nuclear weapons.
"We see, as the intelligence community, no practical evidence at this point of Russian planning for the deployment or even use of tactical nuclear weapons," Burns said.
He warned, however, "the stakes are very high for Putin's Russia." For information, a decree signed by President Putin on June 2, 2020, said Russia views its nuclear weapons as "an exclusive means of deterrence".
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