The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Russia has “fully reaffirmed” its commitment to prevent nuclear war and avoid an arms race under a joint declaration signed with the US, UK, France and China in January. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly made veiled threats to use nuclear weapons as his eight-month invasion of Ukraine falters, as part of a strategy that Western officials have said is designed to prevent Western military aid to Kyiv. The rhetoric has alarmed Western powers, particularly after Russia made unsubstantiated claims last week that Ukraine was building a “dirty bomb” – a conventional weapon containing radioactive material. Putin repeated the warnings, but then said there was “no military or political logic” in Russia using a nuclear weapon against Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday: “We are firmly convinced that in the current difficult, turbulent situation, which is a consequence of irresponsible and brazen actions aimed at undermining our national security, preventing any military conflict between nuclear powers is the highest priority.” . Putin’s message comes as US officials say they believe a series of high-level talks between US and Russian defense officials have helped calm tensions somewhat. “There is a temporary feeling of reassurance,” said one US official. Last month US officials saw troubling signs in their monitoring of possible nuclear use by Russia, but said the information they got did not suggest Moscow was preparing to use a nuclear weapon. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Russian military leaders last month discussed the possibility of using a tactical nuclear weapon. Officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration say they worry that growing desperation on Putin’s part could lead him to consider using such a weapon. Speaking in London, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the Russian claim that Ukraine was building a dirty bomb was completely untrue and that the UK, along with the US and France, “felt absolutely obliged to maintain the taboo” on use of nuclear weapons. “Allegations by Russia of preparation of a tactical nuclear weapon by Ukraine, or indeed facilitated by the UK or any other power, are not correct and are not true,” Wallace told the House of Commons defense committee. “It would be disgusting. . . against international law and would be completely unjustified. We have no intention of doing anything other than . . . stating the truth about it,” Wallace said. Western officials have stepped up monitoring of Russia’s nuclear preparedness in recent months, but have reported no changes. Ukraine has said Russia’s rhetoric is likely to be a bluff, aimed at persuading its Western backers to pressure Kyiv into accepting an unfavorable peace deal on Moscow’s terms. Recommended Ukrainian forces are advancing on the southern city of Kherson, the only provincial capital Russia captured during the invasion – even though Putin claimed it as part of Russia in a lavish annexation ceremony in late September. Although Putin has vowed to use “all means at our disposal” to defend territory it considers part of Russia, Ukraine has continued to hit back at Russian forces, reinforcing the belief of some officials that Moscow will not follow through her threats. “We want them to focus on stopping the war that’s going on and the invasion that’s going on and not try to divert us and others or into areas unrelated to the fact that they’re invading Ukraine,” a Western official said. , adding that Russia’s efforts have so far met with little success. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement contained an implicit rebuke of Western powers supplying advanced weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow claimed increased the chances of an immediate conflict between Russian and NATO forces. In an apparent reference to the dirty bomb allegations, he called on Ukraine’s Western supporters to “demonstrate their readiness to resolve this priority and abandon dangerous efforts to undermine each other’s vital interests, balancing on the line of direct armed conflict and encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction, which could lead to catastrophic consequences.” The foreign ministry said Russia’s military doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons if the country is hit first in a nuclear strike or if “the very existence of the state” is threatened by a conventional attack.
