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Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for his country's use of nuclear weapons Tuesday, days after the United States allowed Ukraine to strike inside Russia using American missiles.

The Kremlin announced that Putin had approved an updated nuclear doctrine — a document that governs how Russia uses its nuclear arsenal — including the declaration that Moscow could unleash a nuclear strike if subject to an attack by a non-nuclear country that has the support of a nuclear state.

“The nuclear doctrine update was required to bring the document in line with the current political situation,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the TASS state news agency in comments published early Tuesday.

Peskov outlined Moscow's new threat in light of Washington's shift in policy: That the use of Western non-nuclear missiles by Ukraine's military against Russia under the new doctrine could lead to a nuclear response.

The changes had been formulated and will be formalized as necessary, he said. Still, the use of nuclear weapons would be a “last resort measure,” he added.

The changes mark the most significant saber rattling yet by the Kremlin, which has consistently warned about possible nuclear war throughout the now 1,000 days since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putin had signaled the update to his country’s policy earlier this year as he sought to warn the West against loosening restrictions on Kyiv's use of long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia.

Russia also reserved the rise to use the weapons even if Belarus was attacked, he said then. And the new doctrine matches that shift.

"Aggression against the Russian Federation and its allies by a non-nuclear country with the support of a nuclear state will be considered a joint attack," it reads.

The doctrine also says that “The Russian Federation may use nuclear weapons in the event of a critical threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of itself and Belarus,” a shift from previous language that said it may use nuclear weapons “when the very existence of the state is at risk.”

The changes follow Putin's warning to the U.S. and its NATO allies that any use of their long-range weapons supplied to the Ukrainians against Russian territory would mean NATO and Russia are at war.

But after the U.S. and others said that thousands of North Korean troops had joined the fight alongside the Kremlin's military, U.S. officials told NBC News that the Biden administration had relaxed restrictions on the missile systems it has supplied to its ally, authorizing use of the long-range ATACMS missile systems for limited strikes in Russia's Kursk border region.

Anyone have any insight into what Biden is doing here? Why is he making these decisions now? First the missiles, now the landmines. After years of resisting these things. I don't get it. It seems to me like the kind of decisions you'd make when Russia had been weakened in some way but with Trump incoming Russia seems to have the upper hand atm.

Given Biden’s cognitive decline I wonder who is making these decisions.

Anyone have any insight into what Biden is doing here? Why is he making these decisions now? First the missiles, now the landmines. After years of resisting these things. I don't get it. It seems to me like the kind of decisions you'd make when Russia had been weakened in some way but with Trump incoming Russia seems to have the upper hand atm.

Anyone have any insight into what Biden is doing here? Why is he making these decisions now? First the missiles, now the landmines. After years of resisting these things. I don't get it. It seems to me like the kind of decisions you'd make when Russia had been weakened in some way but with Trump incoming Russia seems to have the upper hand atm.

So , lots of advisors to help the President decide ? this is usually referred to as his cabinet , i think?
Now he is oavking those positions and homeland security and the head of the CI A. with his cronies( Yes Men).
People whom in wanting to keep their jobs will , A- ss kiss this President . So am not sure how unbiased his advisors will be ..?

( All Hail Trump) ....written with a eye towards extreme sarcasm.

In a stark warning to Western countries arming Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he ordered an attack on Ukraine with a new intermediate-range ballistic missile in response to Ukraine’s firing U.S.- and British-supplied longer-range weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

Putin said in a televised address that the strike was a “test” of a new weapon and that Russia reserved the right to strike at countries that provide weapons to Ukraine for attacks on Russian territory.

Deputy Defense Department press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters that the missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range ballistic missile based on the design of the RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.

“This was a new type of lethal capability that was deployed on the battlefield, so that was certainly of concern,” Singh said.

Russia notified U.S. officials about the imminent attack, using nuclear risk reduction communication channels, she said. The missile can carry a conventional or a nuclear warhead.

In his speech, Putin warned countries sending weapons to Ukraine that Russia could target them, too.

“We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Putin said, according to The Associated Press.

Russia has plenty of other less-sophisticated weapons that could have hit targets in eastern Ukraine without drawing on its strategic arsenal. By using an intermediate-range missile, a weapon able to strike far beyond Ukraine and can carry a nuclear warhead, Moscow was sending a warning signal to Ukraine, Washington and other NATO states, analysts said.

Intermediate-range ballistic missiles have a range of less than 3,500 miles. Intercontinental ballistic missiles, which have a larger range of over 3,500 miles, were developed during the Cold War by both the Soviet Union and the U.S. as part of each side’s nuclear arsenal.

Biden administration officials briefed Ukraine and other allies in recent days about Russia’s possibly using the new weapon to help them prepare, according to a U.S. official.

But the U.S. official said Russia would not be able to bully Ukraine, the U.S. or other countries helping Kyiv fend off invading Russian forces.

“Russia may be seeking to use this capability to try to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters or generate attention in the information space, but it will not be a game changer in this conflict,” the U.S. official said.

The administration will continue to send air defense systems, ammunition and other military hardware to Ukraine through the end of President Joe Biden’s term, officials said.

The news comes as Ukrainian forces used their first long-range U.S. and British missiles to strike Russian soil after Washington and its allies lifted restrictions on Kyiv — a move that Moscow had long warned would be met with a significant response.

’Using Ukraine as a training ground'
Earlier Thursday, Ukraine accused Moscow of launching an ICBM at the eastern city of Dnipro in an overnight attack, which would have been the first recorded use of an ICBM in an active conflict and the latest escalation by the Kremlin.

But a U.S. official disputed that account, and then Putin himself came out and identified the weapon as an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Ultimately, analysts say, the likelihood of the Kremlin’s opting to use nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine is very slim — particularly now, when its military is advancing and its opponent is worn down.

Russian forces have seized the momentum in recent months and eked out a succession of territorial gains, particularly on the eastern front lines. They have also been bolstered by thousands of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's troops in their quest to retake occupied land in Russia's Kursk border region.

The West’s relaxing restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range weapons may boost Kyiv, but it is likely do little to transform the battlefield situation, analysts said, despite the dire nature of the Kremlin's rhetorical reaction.

“At this stage in the war, the risk of Russian nuclear use is lower than before. Political and battlefield developments favor Russia, so there is little to gain by escalating the conflict to the nuclear level,” said Alexander Bollfrass, head of strategy, technology and arms control at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.

In addition to the unclear military benefits of deploying those weapons, there would also be diplomatic drawbacks.

“Nuclear weapons use would risk alienating China and other non-Western countries whose support or neutrality is key to maintaining the Russian war economy,” Bollfrass said in an email Wednesday. “It would also get the relationship with the incoming Trump administration off to a very dangerous start.”