MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. President Vladimir Putin has outlined in detail the directions for updating Russia's nuclear doctrine, a corresponding decree is expected soon, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters.
"We will return to the issue when a corresponding decree is published. What the president said to the participants of the relevant meeting, in my opinion, exhaustively outlined the directions of changes in state policy," the senior diplomat said when asked about updates to Russia's nuclear doctrine.
On September 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced some changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine at a permanent meeting of the Security Council. Among other things, the doctrine stipulates that Russia will now recognize support of a non-nuclear state at war with Russia by a nuclear power as an attack, and it allows for a nuclear response to an attack on Russia’s ally — Belarus. The revised doctrine also expands the range of countries and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence, as well as the list of military threats that such deterrence is designed to counter.