MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on approving the fundamentals of the nuclear containment state policy. The document was posted on the government’s legal information web portal on Tuesday.

"To approve the attached fundamentals of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the sphere of nuclear containment," the decree says.

The fundamentals are a document of strategic defense planning and reflect the official views on the essence of nuclear containment. The document stresses that the state policy in the sphere of nuclear containment is of defensive nature and aims to maintain the potential of the nuclear forces at the level sufficient for ensuring nuclear deterrence. It also guarantees the protection of the state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and also the deterrence of the potential enemy from aggression against the Russian Federation and its allies.

"The Russian Federation views nuclear weapons solely as a means of deterrence whose employment is a last resort and forced measure, and is taking all necessary efforts for reducing the nuclear threat and preventing the escalation of inter-state relations that can provoke military, including nuclear, conflicts," the document reads.

Russia’s nuclear containment is aimed at ensuring the potential enemy’s awareness of the inevitable retaliation in case of aggression against Russia and its allies, the document stresses.

Russia’s nuclear deterrence will take into account the potential enemy’s deployment of hypersonic and laser weapons, missiles and strike drones, according to the country’s nuclear containment state policy.

Among major military dangers that may grow into military threats to Russia and require nuclear deterrence for neutralizing them, the document highlights "the deployment of missile shield systems and capabilities, intermediate- and shorter-range cruise and ballistic missiles, precision non-nuclear and hypersonic weapons, strike drones and directed-energy weapons by the states that view the Russian Federation as a potential enemy."

The United States earlier announced plans for developing hypersonic missiles. US President Donald Trump said that the US was working on a "super-duper missile" that was 17 times faster than all the existing versions. The United States is also a leader in developing laser weapons.