Kremlin Spokesman Says Russia Will Only Use Nukes If ‘Existence of the State’ Is Threatened

A spokesman for Vladimir Putin told PBS Monday that nuclear war is on the table, but only if there is a threat to “existence” of Russia.

A week ago, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stoked fears of an escalation of the war in Europe when he told CNN the country would not rule out using nuclear weapons.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour asked him, “I need to ask you this, because the world is afraid, and I want to know whether Putin intends the world to be afraid of the nuclear option, would he use it?”

Peskov indicated a nuclear option would remain amid Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine.

“Well, we have a concept of domestic security, and, well, it’s public,” he said. “You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used. So, if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used, in accordance with our concept.”

Peskov did not clarify what Russia might view as an existential threat.

On Monday evening, the Kremlin official offered more clarity during an interview on PBS NewsHour.

Ryan Chilcote of PBS noted President Joe Biden said in Poland Saturday that Putin could not remain in power in Russia.

Chilcote reminded Peskov that Biden clarified on Monday afternoon he was sharing a personal opinion, and was not advocating for a policy of regime change.

“It is not for the United States’ president to decide who is going to be and who is the president of the Russian Federation,” Peskov said. “It is people of Russia who are deciding during the election.”

Chilcote then asked for clarity relating to the issue of a nuclear escalation in Europe:

There’s still quite a bit of confusion about Russia’s position. We heard yet another official over the weekend, this time former President Dmitry Medvedev, say that Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if it faces an existential threat, even if the other side has not employed nuclear weapons.

So could you please clarify for us what exactly would amount to an existential threat to Russia? For example, if you were unable to achieve your objectives in Ukraine, even though there is no one fighting in Russia, there’s no strikes on Russia, could that be perceived as an existential threat?

Peskov said that Russia’s decision regarding wither or not to use its arsenal of nuclear weapons is unrelated to its war against Ukraine.

“Well, first of all, we have no doubt that all the objectives of our special military operation in Ukraine will be completed,” Peskov said, before he noted the war on Ukraine “is not a reason for usage of a nuclear weapon.”

“We have a security concept that very clearly states that only when there is a threat for existence of the state in our country, we can use and we will actually use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat or the existence of our country,” Peskov said. “Let’s keep all this — well, let’s keep these two things separate, I mean, existence of the state and special military operation in Ukraine. They have nothing to do with each other.”

Watch above, via WNET.