Russian leader Vladimir Putin has approved changes to Russia’s nuclear policy, setting out new conditions under which the country would consider using nuclear weapons. The doctrine now says an attack from a non-nuclear state, if backed by a nuclear power, will be treated as a joint assault on Russia. It also now permits a nuclear response if Russia is attacked by conventional long-range missiles.

International Relations specialist at the University of Otago, Professor Robert Patman, looks at what this means for the war in Ukraine, and how serious a threat this is to the West.

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