Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons only in response to the use of weapons of mass destruction against it, said Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
"The Fundamentals (of the state Policy of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear deterrence, - "IF") confirm the position of the Military Doctrine that the country's nuclear policy is purely defensive in nature. The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons only in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, as well as in the case of aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is threatened," Gerasimov said at the IX Moscow Conference on International Security.
According to him, the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons are strictly limited and regulated.
