Russian lawmaker warns Moscow could reduce time to use nuclear weapons

Russia, the world's leading nuclear power, could reduce the deadline for decisions stipulated in its official policy on the use of nuclear weapons if Moscow believes the threats are increasing, the chairman of the parliamentary defense committee said.

The war in Ukraine has sparked the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with President Vladimir Putin saying last month that Russia could change its official nuclear doctrine setting out the conditions under which such weapons could be used.

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Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the defense committee of Russia's lower house of parliament, told the official RIA news agency on Sunday that if threats increase, the deadline for decisions on the use of such weapons could be changed.

“If we see that challenges and threats are increasing, that means we can correct something in (the doctrine) regarding the timing of the use of nuclear weapons and the decision to proceed with their use,” Kartapolov was quoted as saying by RIA.

Kartapolov, who once commanded Russian forces in Syria and is now an MP for the ruling United Russia party, added that it was too early to talk about specific changes to nuclear doctrine.

Russia's 2020 nuclear doctrine defines when its president would consider using a nuclear weapon: broadly in response to an attack using nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction or conventional weapons “when the very existence of “State is under threat.”

Russia and the United States are by far the world's largest nuclear powers, holding about 88 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Both are modernizing their nuclear arsenals while China is rapidly strengthening its nuclear arsenal.

Putin said this month that Russia did not need to use nuclear weapons to ensure victory in Ukraine, the Kremlin's strongest signal yet that Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II World war will not degenerate into nuclear war.

PRESSURE FROM HARDLINERS

But he also said he did not rule out changes in Russia's nuclear doctrine. This was seen as a nod to pressure from hard-liners within the Russian elite, who say Putin should be able to act more quickly in the face of nuclear escalation and reduce the usage threshold.

Putin reiterated last week that nuclear doctrine may need to be changed because Russia's adversaries are developing extremely low-yield nuclear devices.

Moscow and Washington dramatically reduced the number of their weapons as the Soviet Union collapsed, but the Cold War arms control architecture has collapsed and many diplomats say they now fear a new arms race.

The United States may need to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in coming years to deter growing threats from Russia, China and other adversaries, a senior White House official said this month.

Russia says it is interested in discussing arms control with the United States, but only as part of a broader debate involving European security and the future of Ukraine.

The US 2022 Nuclear Posture Review states that Russia and China are both developing their nuclear arsenals such that by the 2030s, “the United States will, for the first time in its history, face two major nuclear powers as strategic competitors and potential adversaries.