New Delhi, India

Amid escalating Ukraine crisis, another nuclear warning has been issued. A top Russian diplomat warned the NATO countries Wednesday (March 23), as he said that they are dealing with nuclear power and should not threaten Moscow. 

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During an interview with Sky News, Dmitry Polyanskiy, who is a Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN, said, "If Russia is provoked by NATO, if Russia is attacked by NATO I don't know ... we are a nuclear power, why not?" 

He was then asked, whether it was a "legitimate thing" to say, Polyanskiy replied: "I don't think it's the right thing to be saying but it's not a right thing to threaten Russia and to try to interfere."

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"So when you're dealing with a nuclear power of course you have to calculate all the possible outcomes of your behaviour," he further added. 

On being asked about the allegations of war crimes, Polyanskiy said, "I don't think we're committing war crimes in Ukraine. Of course, it's not up to me to assess. I'm not there. You're not there. You're looking at the videos, you're looking at the many of videos which are considered to be fake news. You believe one thing, I believe another thing."

During an interaction with CNN International on Tuesday (March 22), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would only use nuclear weapons in the context of the Ukraine conflict if it were facing an "existential threat". 

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Peskov said as quoted by the media outlet, "We have a concept of domestic security, and it's public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used. So if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept." 

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