Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if it faces aggression from Western countries, Moscow's top security official Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with the state news agency TASS on Monday, Reuters reported.
Shoigu's comments come after US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance warned that Washington could abandon attempts to negotiate a peace settlement in Ukraine if there is no progress on an agreement soon.
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Since taking office in January, Trump has shifted US policy toward the three-year war, pressuring Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire while easing pressure on Russia, according to Reuters.
Shoigu, who served as Russia's defense minister for more than a decade until moving to head its security council in a government reshuffle last year, cited amendments to Moscow's nuclear doctrine approved by President Vladimir Putin last November.
Under the new terms, Russia could consider a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack on Russia or its ally Belarus that would "create a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity."
"...in the event that foreign states commit hostile actions that pose a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, our country considers it legitimate to take symmetrical and asymmetrical measures necessary to suppress such actions and prevent their recurrence," Shoigu said.
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