US national security Warnings as Trump administration hardens nuclear policy against Russia Alarm from arms control groups at calls for new warheads and missiles to counter perceived threat from Moscow of tactical nuclear strikes The Trump administration says Russia must face ‘unacceptably dire costs’ if it threatens a limited nuclear attack. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThe Trump administration announced on Friday that it will continue much of the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons policy, but take a more aggressive stance toward Russia. It also cast China as a potential nuclear adversary, saying the US arsenal is tailored to “prevent Beijing from mistakenly concluding” that it could gain advantage by using its nuclear weapons in Asia, or that “any use of nuclear weapons, however limited, is acceptable”. The Trump nuclear doctrine breaks with Obama’s in ending his push to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in US defence policy. “Recent Russian statements on this evolving nuclear weapons doctrine appear to lower the threshold for Moscow’s first-use of nuclear weapons,” the review said.

Source: The Guardian February 03, 2018 03:45 UTC