The recent announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin to amend the country’s nuclear doctrine shook the arms control regime once again. According to a statement by President Putin in September 2024, Russia is considering revising its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. Russia is expanding the range of situations that may result in the possible use of nuclear weapons, especially in the face of credible information regarding a large-scale cross-border attack featuring drones, missiles, or aircraft.[1] More importantly, President Putin added that any attack by a non-nuclear country, with the assistance of a nuclear weapon state, would be interpreted as a “combined attack on the Russian Federation.”[2] The statement has come at a time not only when the world is already grappling with heightened tensions and increased conflicts but also as the global regimes of arms control, disarmament, and non-testing are becoming increasingly fragile.
