Russia Moving Closer To Nuclear Conflict With The U.S.

Russia is moving closer to NUCLEAR conflict with the US due to Washington's support for Ukraine, Moscow warns

CHRIS JEWERS

Russia is moving closer to a nuclear conflict with the United States due to Washington's support for Ukraine, Moscow has warned.

Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told TASS news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with the Kremlin - the latest in a series of threats from top Russian officials.

He said risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers is steadily growing, as he suggested to the Russian state news agency that Russia may withdraw from an intermediate and shorter-range nuclear missiles treaty.

Since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, Moscow has issued regular charges against the US and what it calls 'the collective West' for raising the risks of a nuclear war, rhetoric intended to deter Kyiv's allies.

'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,' Yermakov said.

The US told Russia in March that it will cease exchanging some data on its nuclear forces following Moscow's refusal to do so, calling it a response to Russia's suspending participation in the New START treaty.

The treaty obligated both Russia and the US to commit to regular communications on the status of their nuclear arsenals, allow regular on-site inspections and abide by caps on the number of deployed and non-deployed warheads each would maintain. 

With a reported 5,977 warheads, Russia has the world's biggest nuclear arsenal - inherited from the Soviet Union - and up until the COVID pandemic was subjected to constant inspections and control from the U.S., which comes in a close second. 

Suspension of the treaty has led to fears of a nuclear arms race between the world's nuclear-armed superpowers. 

Yermakov did not provide details of the alleged US confrontational approach in the excerpts from the TASS interview published so far.

'The most acute threat today is associated ... with the danger of nuclear escalation as a result of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers,' Yermakov said.

'And these risks, to the deepest regret, are steadily growing.'

Moscow and Beijing will assess the West's potential involvement in the global expansion of the US anti-missile system, which 'clearly undermines strategic stability,' he added.

More...