Russia has said that it will keep communication lines open with nuclear powers, but will respond accordingly if the United States deploys more strategic nuclear weapons.
Russian Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made these comments on Saturday to state news agency RIA following a statement from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that the country could make adjustments to its nuclear doctrine.
That prompted a speech by a White House aide who said on Friday that the United States may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in future to deter growing threats from Russia, China and other adversaries.
“We did not stop any dialogue with anyone. We did not cut ties. We did not, by the way, cut energy ties. We did not cut off dialogue platforms,” Zakharova said.
“We have always declared that even in the most difficult situations there is room for dialogue … Therefore, there is no sense in calling us to dialogue, we have never refused it.”
Pranay Vaddi, the top U.S. National Security Council arms control official, made his remarks in a speech on “a more competitive approach” to arms control.
This outlined a policy shift aimed at pressing Moscow and Beijing to reverse rejections of U.S. calls for arsenal limitation talks.
In his speech on Friday, Putin said that he did not rule out changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which such weapons could be used.
Putin said that if necessary, Russia could test a nuclear weapon. He further said that he saw no need to do so at the present time.
Since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022, he has said on many occasions that Russia would use such weapons if necessary to defend itself – comments the West says are nuclear sabre-rattling.
“Yesterday the President said everything. There is a nuclear doctrine. If there is a need to adjust it, adjustments will be made,” Zakharova said.
(Additional reporting by Reuters)
