Russia鈥檚 President Vladimir Putin addresses attendees of the Tavrida.ART festival via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow. (Photo by Pavel Byrkin / Sputnik / AFP)
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan 鈥� President Vladimir Putin on Friday said Russia could amend its military doctrine by introducing the possibility of a preemptive strike to disarm an enemy, in an apparent reference to a nuclear attack.
He spoke in response to a question from a reporter who asked him to clarify his statement from earlier this week on the use of nuclear weapons.
Speaking to reporters just days after warning that the risk of nuclear war was rising but Russia would not strike first, Putin said Moscow was considering whether to adopt what he called Washington鈥檚 concept of a pre-emptive strike.
鈥淔irst of all, the United States has the concept of a preemptive strike. Second, it is developing a disarming strike system,鈥� Putin told reporters in Kyrgyzstan.
Putin said Moscow might need to think about adopting US 聽鈥渋deas for ensuring their own security.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e just thinking about it,鈥� he said.
鈥淚f a potential adversary believes that it is possible to use the concept of a preemptive strike, but we do not, then nevertheless this makes us think about the threats that such ideas pose to us.鈥�
Putin claimed that Russia鈥檚 cruise missiles and hypersonic systems were 鈥渕ore modern and even more efficient鈥� than those in the United States.
On Wednesday, Putin warned that nuclear tensions were rising, although he insisted that Moscow would not be the first to deploy atomic weapons.
At the same he said: 鈥淚f we aren鈥檛 the first to use them under any circumstances, then we will not be the second to use them either.鈥�
The same day the US State Department rebuked the Russian leader, saying 鈥渁ny loose talk of nuclear weapons is absolutely irresponsible.鈥�
Banished from public consciousness for decades, the nightmare of nuclear warfare has surged back to prominence since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February, highlighting the erosion of the Cold War global security architecture.
With Moscow on the back foot in its offensive, the military stalemate has raised fears that Russia could resort to its nuclear arsenal to achieve a military breakthrough.