Morning Note

Vladimir Putin lowered Russia’s threshold for a nuclear strike on Tuesday following Joe Biden’s decision to authorize the Ukrainian military to use U.S. long-range missiles to attack inside Russia.

According to the updated doctrine, Russia will now consider a nuclear strike if it or Belarus face aggression “with the use of conventional weapons that created a critical threat to their sovereignty [and/or] their territorial integrity.” This marks a major shift from Putin’s old policy, which was that he would only use his nukes in response to an enemy’s nuclear attack or a conventional attack “that threatened the existence of the state.”

Furthermore, Russia now considers “aggression against the Russian Federation [and/or] its allies on the part of any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state” worthy of a nuclear response.

Moscow says Ukraine has already met that bar, reportedly firing its first barrage of U.S.-made long-range missiles into Russian territory early Tuesday.

Read more.