U.S. officials said that President Biden had embraced a longstanding U.S. approach of using the threat of a potential nuclear response to deter conventional and other non-nuclear dangers and nuclear ones.
During the 2020 campaign, Mr. Biden promised to work toward a policy in which the sole purpose of the U.S. nuclear arsenal would be to deter or respond to an enemy nuclear attack.
The new decision, made under pressure from allies, holds that the "fundamental role" of the U.S. nuclear arsenal will be to deter nuclear attacks, writes Wall Street Journal.
According to the officials, the carefully worded formulation leaves the possibility that nuclear weapons could also be used in "extreme circumstances" to deter enemy conventional, biological, chemical, and possibly cyberattacks.
Mr. Biden's nuclear policy follows an extensive Nuclear Posture Review, in which administration officials examined U.S. nuclear strategy and programs.
U.S. officials said the administration's review is also expected to lead to cuts in two nuclear systems that the Trump administration embraced. If Congress agrees, this would mean canceling the program to develop a nuclear sea-launched cruise missile and retiring the B83 thermonuclear bomb, WSJ notes.
The review supports the extensive modernization of the U.S. nuclear triad of missiles and bombers, projected to cost over $1 trillion.
However, some Biden administration officials say that his decision doesn't diminish his long-term goal to reduce the U.S. dependence on nuclear weapons and reflects the need to consolidate allied support in Russian threats and a rising China.
Mr. Biden's "sole purpose" proposal was to narrow the U.S.'s circumstances to consider using nuclear weapons by excluding the possibility that they could be employed in response to a conventional attack or other non-nuclear threats.
