Interfax: Gen. Baluyevsky: New Russian military doctrine to have no provisions on preventive nuke strike, potential enemy

MOSCOW. Sept 5 (Interfax) – The updated Russian military doctrine will not designate a potential enemy and conditions of a preventive nuclear strike against it; such information is available in classified directives, former Russian General Staff Chief Gen. of the Army Yuri Baluyevsky, who co-authored the 2010 military doctrine of Russia, told Interfax-AVN on Friday.

“The state military doctrine is a system of formal opinions on the provision of military security and defense. And these formal opinions are itemized and specified in classified plans, which are regularly updated. For instance, there is a defense plan of the Russian Federation. And I believe or, actually, I know for sure that it contains everything: [information] about our potential enemies, our partners, the nuclear deterrence system and the use of the strategic nuclear forces in a special period,” Baluyevsky said.

Nowadays the nuclear deterrence system cannot be a panacea for new threats and challenges, he stressed. “Speaking of nuclear weapons, some goals cannot be achieved with strikes by strategic nuclear forces. Here is a simple example: the Soviet Union also had a powerful nuclear shield but it was unable to save our country from the breakup,” the general said.

“I am confident that, alongside nuclear deterrence, we need a system of non-nuclear deterrence. And this provision must be included in the updated edition of the military doctrine,” Baluyevsky said.