"We were not surprised by Russia's announcement that it would update its nuclear doctrine; Russia had been signalling its intent to update its doctrine for several weeks." "It would be fair to say it's the latest example of irresponsibility that we have seen from the depraved Russian government and we remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine.

The decision to change Russia's official nuclear doctrine is the Kremlin's answer to a reported decision by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to fire American long-range missiles deep into Russia.

President Vladimir Putin has updated Russia’s nuclear doctrine, two days after his US counterpart Joe Biden granted Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russia with American-made weapons.