UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The conflict in Ukraine does not justify Russia’s use of nuclear weapons, but Moscow could decide to use its nuclear arsenal in response to NATO countries’ “direct attack” on the invasion, said Russia on Tuesday at the United Nations. . At a conference on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Russian diplomat Alexander Trofimov dismissed “completely baseless, unreal and unacceptable speculation that Russia is allegedly threatening to use nuclear weapons, particularly in Ukraine.” Days after Russia’s February 24 invasion, Putin put the country’s deterrents — which include nuclear weapons — on alert, citing aggressive statements by NATO leaders and Western economic sanctions against Moscow. Trofimov, a senior diplomat in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s non-proliferation and arms control department, said Moscow would use nuclear weapons only in response to weapons of mass destruction or a conventional weapons attack that threatened the existence of the Russian state. “Neither of these two hypothetical scenarios is relevant to the situation in Ukraine,” Trofimov told the UN conference on the revision of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. But he accused NATO countries of a “brutal hybrid confrontation” against Russia that now “balances perilously on the brink of open military conflict.” “Such a move could trigger one of two emergency scenarios outlined in our doctrine,” Trofimov said. “Obviously we support preventing this, but if Western countries try to test our resolve, Russia will not back down.” Russia on Tuesday accused the United States of direct involvement in the Ukraine war. Moscow said it was responding to comments by a Ukrainian official about how Kyiv had used and supplied US high-mobility artillery rocket launchers (HIMARS), based on what the official called excellent satellite imagery and real-time information. (Additional reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
