The Russian Foreign Ministry posted on its website a sharp criticism of the content of the new nuclear doctrine made public by the United States: "deeply disappointed, the degree of hostility and anti-Russian orientation of this document are impressive ".
We will have to take into consideration Washington's intentions and take the necessary steps to ensure our security.
Moscow, in its response, underlines how Russia in its military doctrine contemplates the use of nuclear weapons "for defensive purposes" and only "in the case of an atomic attack against the motherland and (or) its allies" or "if the very existence of the state should be questioned "even in the context of a conflict with conventional arms.
"We are sorry to note that the United States is justifying its policy of a large-scale upgrading of the nuclear arsenal with references to the modernization of nuclear forces by Russia and the alleged increase in the role of nuclear weapons in our military strategy: we come accused of lowering the threshold for the use of atomic weapons and 'aggressive strategies', "the ministry notes.
Which adds: "All this has nothing to do with the real state of things". Moscow then remembers to "stick to the letter" to the international treaties on non-proliferation and even accuses the US, in the new doctrine, of deliberately keeping vague on the circumstances in which the use of nuclear weapons is considered lawful.
"Washington states that they can be used in the case of 'extraordinary circumstances' that the authors of the doctrine do not limit to military scenarios. And the military scenarios are so vague as to allow Americans to consider almost any use of military force as an excuse to launch a nuclear attack on those they consider an 'aggressor'. "
Moscow therefore wonders what courage the US accuses Russia of including the use of atomic weapons in its military strategies, thus lowering the threshold of tolerability in the use of the nuclear weapon, when in fact, in their doctrine, they push far beyond demonstrating "highly hypocritical" attitudes.
In the end, the note from the Russian Ministry invites Washington to take every action to revise the contents of the doctrine, in order to share a common strategy for world stability.