Russia's recently announced changes to its nuclear doctrine are unlikely to have much success in limiting Western support to Ukraine, but Russia remains unlikely to use nuclear weapons for the foreseeable future because its battlefield position and leverage over Ukraine will likely remain secure. On Sept. 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that, as the result of an inter-agency analysis, he was proposing several key changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine that would be imminently approved. Putin said the list of governments and alliances against which Russia exercises nuclear deterrence would be expanded, as would the list of threats that could warrant a nuclear response by Russia. Specifically, the Russian president announced that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state that was backed by a nuclear-armed country would now be considered a ''joint attack'' that could elicit the use of nuclear weapons. Additionally, Putin specified that Russia would consider deploying its...
