Russia says it is remains "fully committed" to avoiding a nuclear conflict amid global concerns that recent statements from the Kremlin indicated atomic weapons are an option if Moscow's war on Ukraine escalates.
"The Russian Federation, to the full extent, sticks to the principle of not allowing a nuclear war to unfold... We have said and confirmed that many times. There will be no winners in such a war and it must never be unleashed," Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on October 6.
President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials have said in recent days that they are not "bluffing" with their statements that Moscow "has a right to use all its military means to defend its territories," including "newly joined regions."
Many in the West have taken that to mean the use of nuclear weapons by Russia is not off the table.
According to Russia's military doctrine, the country has a right to use nuclear weapons in case if there is a threat to the country's existence.
