Putin’s nuke threat ‘reprehensible’, Marles says

The Russian President has issued his strongest warning yet that he is willing to use nuclear weapons, drawing the ire of an Australian leader.

Vladimir Putin’s latest threat to use nuclear weapons is “reprehensible”, Richard Marles says.

The Russian President overnight lowered his country’s threshold for a nuclear strike after the US gave Ukraine the green light to strike targets in Russia with American-made weapons.

The new nuclear doctrine considers an attack by a non-nuclear power backed by a nuclear power as a joint attack.

Commenting on Mr Putin’s threat, Deputy Prime Minister Marles on Wednesday reiterated Australia’s support for Ukraine as it battles invading Russian forces and said he would not “make a judgment on the way in which Ukraine does defend itself”.

“The country which is talking about an escalation to above a nuclear threshold is Russia,” he told Sky News.

“That’s what must be condemned today. The country which is bringing troops from North Korea into this conflict is Russia. That’s what must be condemned today.

“And we do condemn that, and we do absolutely stand with Ukraine and its defence.”

Russia’s nuclear update, which was floated in September, fell on the same day its defence ministry claimed Ukraine targeted sites deep inside Russian territory using missiles provided by the US.

The new text also says that Russia would consider an attack from any one member of a military bloc as an attack by the entire alliance, in a barely veiled nod to NATO.

Deputy chair of Russia’s security council Dmitry Medvedev, who briefly served as president between Mr Putin’s mammoth terms, said the lowered threshold meant the Kremlin could use nuclear weapons to strike “key NATO facilities”.

“Russia’s new nuclear doctrine means NATO missiles fired against our country could be deemed an attack by the bloc on Russia. Russia could retaliate with WMD against (Kyiv) and key NATO facilities, wherever they’re located,” Mr Medvedev said.

“That means World War III.”

Russia's new nuclear doctrine means NATO missiles fired against our country could be deemed an attack by the bloc on Russia. Russia could retaliate with WMD against Kiev and key NATO facilities, wherever they're located. That means World War III.

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) November 19, 2024

The US and Russia hold 88 per cent of the world’s nuclear warheads.

While Russia’s stockpile is bigger than the US’s by several hundred, according to confirmed counts, it is unclear what condition its nuclear arsenal is in.

Later on Wednesday morning, Mr Marles also said the government was working to reopen Australia’s embassy in Ukraine.

“This is a matter of making sure obviously in the context of a war zone that we can open this in a manner which is safe for all of those who would be in the embassy,” he told the ABC.

“When I was in Ukraine earlier this year, I was with our ambassador and we went into Ukraine together and our ambassador does go there frequently.

“And so we are obviously maintaining our relationship very closely with the Ukrainian government and that’s being expressed through the support that we are providing to the Ukrainian government in terms of this conflict.

“We’ll continue to work on the issue of the embassy and assess the safety of reopening it in Kyiv.”

Australia has given Ukraine around $1.5bn worth of aid to help it push Russia’s forces out of its territory.

Canberra’s bipartisan support for Kyiv has earned Australia a spot on Vladimir Putin’s list of unfriendly countries.

Originally published as Putin’s nuke threat ‘reprehensible’, Marles says