RT reported that President Vladimir Putin said that Western countries supporting Ukraine always seek to provincece and force Russia to make mistakes, including the use of nuclear weapons.
In an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on May 4, President Putin stated that up to now, Russia still has no reason to use nuclear weapons in the Ukrainian conflict, and expressed hope that this would be unnecessary.
Mr. Putin also affirmed that Russia has enough forces and means to end the conflict with Ukraine or as he put it starting from 2022 with favorable results for Russia.
Last month, Secretary of the Russian National Security Council Sergey Shoigu told TASS news agency that nuclear weapons could be used in the event of a force attack on Russia or Belarus, whether a regular or nuclear attack.
Mr. Shoigu's statement was made in the context of NATO member European countries discussing the possibility of deploying troops to Ukraine immediately after a peace agreement in Eastern Europe was signed.
He stressed that the presence of foreign soldiers in Ukraine could lead to direct confrontation between Russia and NATO, while increasing the risk of nuclear war.
In his speech, Mr. Shoigu also mentioned the amendments to Russia's nuclear doctrine approved by President Putin last November.
According to the revised theory, Moscow has the right to use its nuclear deterrence capabilities to prevent aggression from hostile forces or military alliances possessing weapons of mass destruction or large-scale conventional weapons depots.
One of the situations that can trigger the response is when Russia has intelligence confirming a large-scale attack by plane, missile or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
Russia also sees all members of an alliance as a potential target if any country in the bloc attacks Russia. The principle also applies to countries that allow third parties to use their airspace to launch attacks.
