President Vladimir Putin's approval of the document seen on Tuesday was inked 1,000 days from the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and followed President Joe Biden administration reportedly dropping restrictions on Kyiv using ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) to strike inside Russian territory.
Although Washington has been criticized in Kyiv for delays in providing military aid and lifting restrictions on their use, Ukraine’s allies have gradually provided it with more powerful weaponry and granted limited permission to strike military targets in Russia with no major retaliation from Moscow.
This comes in the wake of President Biden giving the go-ahead for Ukraine to use US-made long-range missiles on targets beyond its borders for the first time.
Now, if a non-nuclear state – with the aid of a nuclear power – threatens the country’s sovereignty, it will be considered a joint threat, and Russia can respond with atomic weapons.