Kremlin Says Russia Prepared to Use Nukes in Cases of ‘Existential Threat’

A rocket launches from missile system as part of a ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile test launched from the Plesetsk facility in northwestern Russia on Dec. 9, 2020. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Moscow is not ruling out a nuclear strike under circumstances outlined in its military doctrine, including if Russia faces an “existential threat.”

Peskov was responding to a question by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour during an interview in which he was asked to confirm that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “never use a nuclear weapon.”