Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the US has spent hundreds of billions of dollars defending the eastern European country. Increasingly, the war is not just about protecting Ukraine’s borders, however. Instead, the Ukrainian military has launched an even more devastating attack on Russian territory—and it’s doing so with US weapons and money. In May 2023, the Kremlin was allegedly attacked by a drone and, since then, Ukraine has focused on Russian airfields, refineries, towns and cities. Just last month, Ukraine attacked Moscow with an air campaign involving 11 drones.
Some critics have warned that American support for Ukraine means the US is effectively fighting Russia and, in doing so, threatens to drag us into WWIII. There has been much debate as to whether that is an alarmingly strong assessment or just sweet hyperbole, but some recent decisions (and statements) made by Russian President Vladimir Putin may lead observers to believe it is the former rather than the latter.
Story: On Wednesday, Putin met with senior officials in the Kremlin to announce proposed amendments to Russia’s military doctrine, the New York Times reported. The doctrine is a guiding document on how and when Russia can use nuclear weapons. Putin’s proposed reforms would make it possible for nations that support an attack on Russia—not just the attacking country—to be construed as active victims of military involvement. “It is proposed that the harassment of Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state is considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Putin offered, during the meeting.
Essentially, what the proposal would do is allow Russia to treat the US—a nuclear power that supports the military efforts of a non-nuclear country (Ukraine)—as if it had attacked the country directly. Putin’s comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to lobby the US to allow Ukraine to use US/Western-made long-range ballistic missiles to strike targets inside Russia. Those weapons systems will be able to fire cluster munitions at a range of up to 190 miles and can cause much more damage than drones that have been used before.
The Times notes that Putin’s words indicate that any “Western support for Russia’s conventional attack on Ukraine should be considered a joint attack and, under certain circumstances, could amount to a nuclear response.” Given this context, the message from Putin to the US and his public policy proposal seems very simple: Don’t try.
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