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.

Putin lowered the bar for a nuclear attack after the US lifted a ban on Ukraine using long-range missiles. Ukraine carried out its first strike with the weapons.

A decree signed by the Russian leader, though long planned, came days after President Biden authorized the use of U.S.-supplied missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia.

President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons, following U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles.

Russian ruler Vladimir Putin issued a decree on 19 November approving Russia's updated nuclear doctrine shortly after the White House allowed Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to strike deep into Russia.

This comes as the US eased restrictions on Ukrainian forces firing American weapons into Russian territory.  Read more at straitstimes.com.

Stocks fell and investors fled to safe-haven assets on Tuesday, as global markets reacted to escalating tensions between the world's two largest nuclear powers.

Putin's newly signed decree permits the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation against any significant assault on Russia, including drone attacks.