Vladimir Putin says threat of nuclear war is 'rising' but insists Russia 'isn't crazy'

Addressing his human rights council, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the prospect of nuclear war is "rising" as he refused to swear strike first

Video loading

Video not available

Click to playTap to play

Vladimir Putin says the threat of nuclear weapons is 'growing'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the threat of nuclear war is "rising" as he refused to rule out using his country's nuclear arsenal to strike first.

He said nuclear weapons were a deterrent in the Kremlin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and against perceived aggression from the west.

And he added, chillingly, that the threat of nuclear war was "rising" when he spoke at the annual televised session of his human rights council.

When a member asked him to give up a first strike, he replied, "In terms of the threat of nuclear war, you're right, that threat is increasing.

"As for the idea that Russia would in no way use these weapons first, that means that we would not be able to be the second to use them either - because the possibility of doing so in case of attack on our territory would be very limited.”

Putin made the comments at the annual meeting of his human rights council (

Picture:

Mikhail Metzel/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

Russia's nuclear doctrine is based on the so-called "launch on warning" concept.

That's when the country would only fire nuclear weapons in the face of a similar attack, or conventional weapons that threaten the "very existence" of the state.

Putin added: "This means that if we are hit, we retaliate in response."

But throughout the war, Putin repeatedly hinted at a willingness to use arms and said Russia was ready to use "all available means" in what it saw as a attempt to protect its own territory.