Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed the country's new military doctrine regulating the stance the country takes in conflict situations, AP reported. The doctrine, which Russia is adopting through 2020, does not include a provision for pre-emptive nuclear strikes, as officials had previously suggested might have been present. The document says Russia reserves the right to use nuclear force in response to a nuclear attack or one of equivalent magnitude. Russia's conventional military forces are in dilapidated shape, increasing Moscow's dependence on its Cold War-era nuclear arsenals. The expansion of Western military alliance NATO is named first in a list of main external threats to the country.
