The Russian Foreign Ministry ruled out the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine on Friday. They are of no use in the “military special operation,” it said.

With that formulation, Moscow refers to its invasion of the neighbouring country.

“The scenarios of our possible use of nuclear weapons are clearly documented in Russian doctrinal documents,” said a spokesman for the foreign ministry, Alexei Sajzev. “They do not apply to the performance of the duties of the special military operation in Ukraine.”

The Russian nuclear doctrine only prescribes a defensive use of nuclear weapons. “Russia strictly adheres to the principles that there are no winners in a nuclear war and that it must not be unleashed,” Saidev said.

According to the spokesman, Moscow has repeatedly proposed agreements to make nuclear war impossible. The diplomat also again accused the West of deliberate escalation with a “fabricated nuclear threat from Russia”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned Western countries in February not to get involved in the war in Ukraine; otherwise, there would be “consequences they have never faced”. At the same time, the head of state had his nuclear forces put on a heightened state of readiness.