BEIJING, November 20. /TASS/. Moscow’s decision to modify its nuclear doctrine is a powerful response to Washington’s authorization of US-supplied missile strikes inside Russian territory, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, told TASS.

"Russia’s update of its nuclear doctrine has proven to be a forceful response," the expert noted. He expressed skepticism about the claim that a large number of US-made ATACMS tactical missiles had been deployed to Ukraine. "Do they have sufficient missiles? And what happens once they exhaust them?" Wang said.

He suggested that outgoing US President Joe Biden and the American "deep state" are trying to intensify the situation in Ukraine because President-elect Donald Trump "is unwilling to support Kiev."

The New York Times reported on November 17, citing sources, that Biden had authorized the use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles to launch attacks inside Russia from Ukraine. Meanwhile, the US administration has not made any official statements to either confirm or deny these reports. Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell, in turn, said that some European Union countries had also allowed Ukraine to use their weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on November 19 that Moscow’s revised nuclear doctrine provided for a nuclear response to the use of Western non-nuclear missiles against Russia. Earlier, Peskov noted that Western countries’ decision indicated "a qualitatively new phase" of tensions.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree approving the country’s updated nuclear doctrine. The core principle of the doctrine is that the use of nuclear weapons is a last resort to protect the country’s sovereignty. The emergence of new military threats and risks prompted Russia to clarify the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons. The previous version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine was approved in June 2020, replacing a similar document that had been in force for ten years.