No first use (NFU) refers to a pledge or a policy by a nuclear power not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless first attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons. The concept can also be applied to chemical or biological warfare.
As of October 2008, China, India and North Korea have publicly declared their commitment to no first use of nuclear weapons.
NATO has repeatedly rejected calls for adopting NFU policy, arguing that preemptive nuclear strike is a key option. In 1993, Russia dropped a pledge given by the former Soviet Union not to use nuclear weapons first. In 2000, a Russian military doctrine stated that Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons "in response to a large-scale conventional aggression".
Read more about No First Use: Countries Pledging No-first-use, Countries Pledging Only To Use Nuclear Weapons Defensively
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