Kremlin claims Russia is making an effort to "prevent nuclear conflict" and accuses Biden of escalation

Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, has claimed that Russia is making every effort to prevent a nuclear conflict and accused the administration of US President Joe Biden of "irresponsibility" for allowing Ukraine to use ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles against targets inside Russia.

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti; Russian Telegram channel, which publishes Peskov's audio comments

Quote: "We've emphasised in the context of our nuclear doctrine that Russia takes a responsible stance in terms of making every effort to prevent such a conflict. We expect other nations to take the same responsible position. Russia does not engage in provocative actions."

Details: Peskov also accused the administration of US President Joe Biden of "irresponsibility" for allowing Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles to strike targets inside Russia, calling it a "new escalation".

"A new escalation is taking place. That's a very irresponsible position that the outgoing US administration is taking. They are continuing to add fuel to the fire of this conflict, in every possible way preventing any momentum towards its conclusion, while using Ukraine as a tool in their hands in their war with Russia," Peskov said.

At the same time, the Kremlin spokesperson deferred comment on Ukraine's use of Western-supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles to the Russian military, stating, "I wouldn't want to say anything additional on this topic, which is the prerogative of our military and the defence ministry".

Background:

• Bloomberg reported that on 20 November, Ukrainian forces used UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles against military targets on the territory of Russia, the aggressor state, for the first time.
• On 17 November, The New York Times reported that current US President Joe Biden had, for the first time, allowed the Ukrainian military to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory.
• On 19 November, Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin issued a decree approving Russia's updated nuclear doctrine. One of the conditions for the use of atomic weapons is the "launch of ballistic missiles".
• Notably, Putin announced the expansion of Russia's nuclear deterrence doctrine on 25 September. At the time, the Kremlin leader said that a nuclear response would follow in the event of "reliable information about the launch of air and space attack capabilities towards Russia". Putin clarified that he meant "strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft".
• After that, Ukrainian drones attacked Russia at least several times. After one of the largest attacks, Russian media asked Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, whether Russia would respond with nuclear weapons to these attacks (in particular, amid talk of changing Russia's nuclear doctrine).
• Peskov replied that "there’s no need to overly refer to this document".

Why this is important: Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has repeatedly announced various "red lines", violations of which are said to lead to a nuclear response. 

These "red lines" have, at different times, concerned supplies of Leopard tanks, Western missiles, F-16 fighter jets, and more. 

Ukraine has crossed these so-called "red lines" set by the Kremlin multiple times. However, even the advance of Ukrainian troops into Russian territory and the control of hundreds of Russian settlements by the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not prompted any fundamentally new response from Russia. 

Russian leader Vladimir Putin initially chose to pursue a strategy of ignoring what was happening, later attempting to downplay the significance of the Ukrainian army's capture of Russian territories. Russian authorities and state-controlled media have also opted to overlook Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian airfields and ammunition depots. After each new attack, they merely report that their air defence systems supposedly shot down dozens of drones and make no comment on the destruction or losses.

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