The new national security concept envisages the use of nuclear weapons if Russia has to repel armed aggression when all other means of resolving the crisis have been exhausted.

Under the previous concept, published in 1997 by former president Boris Yeltsin, Russia said it would resort to nuclear weapons only if its very existence was threatened.

Terrorism

Officials say it is a sweeping rewrite of the 1997 document, focusing more on fighting terrorism and organised crime.

The 21-page doctrine - in effect in place as government policy - was published on Friday in the weekly military newspaper Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye.

The document said a number of states were trying to weaken and marginalise Russia. "The level and scale of threats in the military sphere is growing," it added.

Click here to see a map of Russia's nuclear bases

Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal is made up of about 770 intercontinenal ballistic missiles (ICBMs), about 21 nuclear armed submarines (SSBNs) and nuclear bombers.

Balance of power

The BBC's correspondent in Moscow, William Horsley, said the concept underlying the policy document was that the United States must not be seen as the only superpower.

Moscow's favoured option was for a "multi-polar" world in which Russia's voice was backed up by its military arsenal. The document said the current trend was for a "uni-polar" world dominated by the US.

Defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus said Russia's new emphasis on nuclear weapons would encourage arms control advocates to press the Clinton administration to step up its efforts to conclude nuclear disarmament agreements with Moscow.

This, at a time when Washington appeared more interested in developing strategic defences rather than relying on treaties for security.

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