The Kremlin yesterday said that Russia was adjusting its nuclear doctrine because the United States and its Western allies were threatening Russia by escalating the war in Ukraine and riding roughshod over Moscow's legitimate security interests.

Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, is making changes to its nuclear doctrine - which sets out the circumstances under which Moscow would use such weapons - due to the West's increasing support for Ukraine which Russia invaded in 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in Moscow's most detailed explanation to date, linked the move directly to the "threats" created by the West and blamed the United States for destroying the post-Cold War security architecture of Europe.

The West, Peskov said, had rejected dialogue with Russia and taken a line of attack against its security interests while stoking "the hot war in Ukraine."

"It is the United States that is the ringmaster of the process of provoking tension," Peskov said.

The Kremlin yesterday said that Russia was adjusting its nuclear doctrine because the United States and its Western allies were threatening Russia by escalating the war in Ukraine and riding roughshod over Moscow's legitimate security interests.

Russia's current published nuclear doctrine, set out in a 2020 decree by President Vladimir Putin, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.

Russia and the United States are by far the world's biggest nuclear powers, holding about 88% of the world's nuclear weapons.

As Russia, which now controls 18% of Ukraine, advances, Kyiv has repeatedly asked for more Western weapons and permission to use Western-supplied long-range weapons in its attacks far into the Russian territory.

The US is close to an agreement to give Ukraine long-range cruise missiles that could reach deep into Russia, but Kyiv would need to wait several months as the US works through technical issues ahead of any shipment, US officials said.

Peskov said it was obvious that Ukraine would move to striking targets deep in Russia with Western weapons.