Senior Russian diplomat: Risks of direct armed clash between nuclear powers as high

Photo: TASS

Senior Russian diplomat sees risks of direct armed clash between nuclear powers as high. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov (photo) also said Western opponents deliberately make unacceptable conditions for security talks with Moscow.

The risks of a direct armed clash between nuclear powers are currently high, Sergey Ryabkov said, TASS informs.

"We have come to the conclusion that the risks of a direct armed clash between nuclear powers are now high," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Primakov Readings conference.

Primakov Readings were first held in 2015. The forum has acquired the status of an authoritative platform for the discussion of scenarios for the development of international relations, challenges to international security, and new models of interaction between the constituents of world politics.

Ryabkov also said Western opponents deliberately make unacceptable conditions for security talks with Moscow.

"We have come to the conclusion that we need to think about what's next and how to reduce to a minimum the risks of a direct clash. A professional conversation on this issue should be continued. Unfortunately, our opponents officially put forward deliberately unacceptable conditions for such a dialogue," he said.

According to the diplomat, the West is proposing to forget about its hostile policy toward Russia and return to dialogue in those formats, as it was before the current crisis in relations between Russia and the collective West.

"It can’t be like that. I think that the political science community and also officials in the West still, deep down, in their deep state, understand that it is correct to put the question this way and it is impossible for us to compromise fundamental security interests in the conditions of a direct and intense conflict in which the West is involved," Ryabkov said.

Moscow could be forced to downgrade diplomatic ties with Western countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has warned, citing hostile policies of the US and its allies.

“We have not initiated such a step yet, despite all of the things related to the most tumultuous phase in our relations with the West,” the diplomat said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, published on Thursday.

“Is a decision to downgrade the level of diplomatic ties possible? I can say that we are examining this issue. Such decisions are made on the highest level,” Ryabkov said, adding that it is too early to “speculate.”

The West’s “sense of impunity” on the world stage will eventually force Russia to retaliate more decisively, if the situation does not change, the deputy minister warned.

Our adversaries must know that, with every step, they are moving closer to the point of no return.

Ryabkov accused Washington of helping Ukrainian forces pick targets when using US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. Last week, four people were killed when cluster munitions from a missile hit a packed beach in Crimea. The incident prompted Moscow to summon the American ambassador. “It was a flagrant case of a direct [US] involvement in the conflict,” Ryabkov said. “The complicity in a terrorist act committed by the Kiev regime will not go unanswered.”

The diplomat said that deliveries of weapons to Ukraine and attempts to confiscate Russian assets abroad undermine potential dialogue in other fields, such as arms control. “They must understand that it would be simply impossible,” he stressed.

Earlier in June, Ukraine’s Western backers renewed their pledges to continue support for Kiev in its fight with Moscow. Russia has repeatedly stated that no amount of foreign aid will stop its operation in Ukraine, and that weapons deliveries only lead to further escalation.

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