Joe Biden has approved a US nuclear strategy to prepare for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea, according to a New York Times report on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the White House said the president approved the plan earlier this year and it was not a response to a single country or threat.

The spokesperson Sean Savett said that while “the specific text of the guidance is classified, its existence is in no way secret. The guidance issued earlier this year is not a response to any single entity, country, nor threat.”

The Times reported that the deterrent policy takes into account a rapid buildup of China’s nuclear arsenal, which will rival the size and diversity of the US and Russian stockpiles over the next decade. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.