Blinken said the U.S. is concerned about possible Russian use of nuclear weapons

The United States is concerned that Russia may use nuclear weapons despite Moscow 's statements that it has no such plans. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on January 3.

"Even if the probability rises from 5 percent to 15 percent when it comes to nuclear weapons, there is nothing more serious," he said in an interview with the Financial Times.

He added that China could play a deterrent role in this issue, despite being an ally of Russia.

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Earlier, on December 19, Deputy National Security Advisor to the U.S. President John Feiner said that the U.S. allowed the strengthening of combat readiness in case Russia refuses to comply with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). At the same time, Feiner said that the United States was ready to dialog with the Russian side on the issue of nuclear risks.

On December 11, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that further cooperation in the field of nuclear disarmament with states unfriendly to Russia had become politically unacceptable.

On December 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was not tightening its nuclear doctrine, but improving it. To all this, he added that the country now needs to improve the "Oreshnik" missile system. The head of state also noted that a sufficient number of modern weapons systems practically replaces the use of nuclear weapons.

November 19, Putin approved an updated nuclear doctrine of Russia. The updated document included amendments that the head of state announced in September. In particular, for the first time a definition of a potential adversary against whom Russia is conducting nuclear deterrence was introduced.