The risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, are constantly increasing, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a high-ranking Russian diplomat, Reuters reports.

Volodymyr Ermakov, director of the Department of Nuclear Nonproliferation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, said that Washington is increasing these risks with its behavior toward Moscow.

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has regularly accused the US and what it calls the “collective West” of raising the risks of nuclear war, rhetoric aimed at deterring Kyiv’s allies.

“If the United States continues on its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes steadily rising to the brink of outright armed conflict, the fate of the NPT may be foreordained,” he said. – said Ermakov.

In March, the US told Russia it would stop sharing data on its nuclear forces after Moscow refused to do so in response to Russia’s suspension of the New Nuclear Weapons Treaty.

Ermakov did not specify the allegedly confrontational approach of the USA in the published excerpts of the TASS interview.

“The most acute threat today is related to the danger of nuclear escalation as a result of direct military confrontation between nuclear states,” Yermakov said.

“And these risks, to our deep regret, are constantly increasing.”

Moscow and Beijing will assess the potential participation of the West in the global expansion of the American anti-missile system, which “clearly undermines strategic stability,” he added. (Agerpress)

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