Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of escalating the conflict after Putin lowered the nuclear weapons use threshold, condemned by the US, UK, and EU. Washington approved Ukraine’s use of ATACMS against Russia, with Russian analyst Vassily Kashin claiming Western involvement. The Kremlin views these actions as attacks on Russian territory. Nuclear policy expert Maxim Starchak noted the ambiguity in Russia’s nuclear doctrine, while recent developments, including North Korean troop arrivals and US missile support, heighten tensions, potentially edging closer to a Russia-NATO conflict.