‘Reprehensible’: Marles slams Putin’s nuke threat
Written by admin on November 20, 2024
Vladimir Putin’s latest threat to use nuclear weapons is “reprehensible”, Richard Marles says.
The Russian President overnight lowered his country’s threshold for a nuclear strike after the US gave Ukraine the green light to strike targets in Russia with American-made weapons.
The new nuclear doctrine considers an attack by a non-nuclear power backed by a nuclear power as a joint attack.
Commenting on Mr Putin’s threat, Deputy Prime Minister Marles on Wednesday reiterated Australia’s support for Ukraine as it battles invading Russian forces and said he would not “make a judgment on the way in which Ukraine does defend itself”.
“The country which is talking about an escalation to above a nuclear threshold is Russia,” he told Sky News.
“That’s what must be condemned today. The country which is bringing troops from North Korea into this conflict is Russia. That’s what must be condemned today.
“And we do condemn that, and we do absolutely stand with Ukraine and its defence.”
Russia’s nuclear update, which was floated in September, fell on the same day Russia’s military claimed Ukraine targeted sites deep inside Russia using missiles provided by the US.
The new text also says that Russia would consider an attack from any one member of a military bloc as an attack by the entire alliance, in a barely veiled nod to NATO.
Deputy chair of Russia’s security council Dmitry Medvedev, who briefly served as president between Mr Putin’s mammoth terms, said the lowered threshold meant the Kremlin could use nuclear weapons to strike “key NATO facilities”.
“Russia’s new nuclear doctrine means NATO missiles fired against our country could be deemed an attack by the bloc on Russia. Russia could retaliate with WMD against (Kyiv) and key NATO facilities, wherever they’re located,” Mr Medvedev said.
“That means World War III.”
The US and Russia hold 88 per cent of the world’s nuclear warheads.
While Russia’s stockpile is bigger than the US’s by several hundred, according to confirmed counts, it is unclear what condition its nuclear arsenal is in.
