MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree, approving the updated nuclear doctrine, will be issued when ready, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has told TASS.

"[The document] will be issued when ready," he said, answering to a question of whether the draft has already been approved and will be formalized by a presidential decree.

Putin chaired the permanent conference of the Russian Security Council on nuclear deterrence, tasked with shaping decisions related to the country’s nuclear policy, on Wednesday, September 25. Such events are normally held out of the public eye, but this time it featured a public presidential address to preview an update of the Russian nuclear doctrine.

Russia’s nuclear doctrine, known formally as Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence, lays the groundwork for the use of nuclear weapons, defining nuclear response as an extreme measure to protect the country’s sovereignty. The current edition of the nuclear doctrine was approved in June 2020, replacing a previous similar document that remained in force for about a decade.