Risks of nuclear confrontation with United States growing, claims Russia

Russian foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation Vladimir Yermakov on Tuesday said that there has been a steady growth in the direct military confrontation between the world's two nuclear powers - the United States and Russia. The senior Russian diplomat warned about the nuclear confrontation.

Yermakov, speaking to the Russian state news agency TASS, said the conduct of Washington towards Moscow is escalating the risks of a nuclear war in the future.

Since Russia started invading Ukraine 14 months ago, regular charges were issued by Moscow against the United States and Yermakov called out "the collective West" for increasing the risks of a nuclear war.

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"If the United States continues to follow its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes constantly escalating on the verge of sliding into direct armed conflict, then the fate of START (nuclear arms treaty) may be a foregone conclusion," said Yermakov.

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In March, the US informed Russia that it will stop exchanging data on its nuclear forces after Moscow refused to share the same, calling it a reaction to Russia's decision of pulling out from the New START treaty.

"In the worst-case scenario, i.e. if Washington drives the situation to a military clash between the strongest nuclear powers, then it is not the fate of the New START but the fate of the entire world that will be a concern," Yermakov said.

"This once again confirms that the most pressing threat today is connected not with the dynamic of stimuli for the first massive strike, which is supposed to be curbed by agreements like the New START, but with a danger of nuclear escalation as a result of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers. And, to our deepest regrets, these risks keep growing," he added.

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"This is exactly why we constantly point to the danger of US and NATO’s actions, who, it seems, have believed in the illusion of impunity and got carried away with such chimeras as ‘escalation control’ and ‘escalatory domination’. We continue sending sobering signals to the West that a catastrophe must be prevented," the diplomat said.

However, he stated the West "remains deaf to the calls," and even "maliciously distorts them for propaganda purposes."

The diplomat stated that, for improving the situation, "the US must immediately take concrete steps on de-escalation and to abolish the hostile course towards undermining Russia’s security in practice."

"There is simply no other way to reverse the negative trend," Yermakov added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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