NATO policy course is risky and can lead to escalation up to armed clash. It is important to prevent such a development, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper published on Monday.
"The destructive course of NATO countries to ignore our 'red lines' and get involved in a confrontation with Russia in Ukraine with balancing on the verge of a direct armed conflict is highly risky. Obviously, this is fraught with further escalation, up to and including a military clash of the nuclear powers with the gravest consequences. This must be prevented," stressed the deputy minister.
He noted that one of the most important tasks in this context is to remain committed to the postulate of the inadmissibility of any war between the states possessing nuclear weapons.
Ryabkov also recalled in an interview with the newspaper the conditions under which Russia can use nuclear weapons. "Russia hypothetically allows a nuclear response only in response to aggression using WMD (weapons of mass destruction - TASS) against us or our allies or aggression using conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened," he said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS