“This is part of a propaganda campaign launched against Russia in response to our steps to neutralize national security threats emanating from Ukrainian territory,” his Newsweek article says.
Antonov recalled that the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons are spelled out in the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear deterrence.
According to the document, it can be activated in response to the use against Russia and WMD allies or in the event of aggression against the country, when its very existence is threatened.
Former US President Donald Trump has previously said that the rhetoric of the Russian authorities about nuclear weapons is "disrespectful" to the leadership of the United States.
US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan on CNN called the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the threat of nuclear war as nuclear blackmail.
Later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with Al Arabiya TV channel, stressed that Russia is not playing with the topic of nuclear war.
He also noted that the inadmissibility of nuclear war is Russia's principled position.