Russian lawmaker warns that Moscow could change the timetable for using nuclear weapons

Russian lawmaker warns that Moscow could change the timetable for using nuclear weapons

(Reuters) – Moscow could change the timetable for using its nuclear weapons if threats against Russia increase, the official RIA news agency said on Sunday, citing Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of Russia's lower house defense committee.

The former general's comments follow recent warnings from President Vladimir Putin that Moscow could change its nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which such weapons could be used.

“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 the agency.

“But of course it’s too early to talk about details now.”

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 the state is under threat.”

Putin also said Russia could test a nuclear weapon if necessary, although he does not see the need for one at the moment.

The increased rhetoric about nuclear weapons comes as Russian and U.S. diplomats say Russia's war in Ukraine, launched against its smaller neighbor in 2022, is in the most dangerous phase yet.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; editing by Clarence Fernandez)