Ryabkov emphasized that Russia’s decision to suspend the 2010 New START treaty was a response to the U.S. and NATO’s involvement…reports Asian Lite News
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov issued a warning that increasing Western support for Ukraine could lead to a catastrophic conflict between nuclear powers.
In a speech at the U.N. conference on disarmament, Ryabkov criticised the U.S. and its allies for openly declaring their goal of defeating Russia in a “hybrid” war, which he argued violates international agreements and could lead to the war in Ukraine spiralling out of control.
Ryabkov emphasized that Russia’s decision to suspend the 2010 New START treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the U.S., was a response to the U.S. and NATO’s involvement in the military confrontation in Ukraine.
He accused the U.S. and NATO of fuelling the conflict and increasing their military involvement, which he warned could result in “a direct military clash with catastrophic consequences.”
The Russian diplomat’s warning comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine. The U.S. and its allies have expressed support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia-backed separatists, while Russia has accused the West of interfering in its internal affairs.
The situation has raised concerns about the potential for a larger conflict between nuclear powers.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said allowing Russia to do what it is doing in Ukraine will be a message to aggressors everywhere.
“If we allow Russia to do what it is doing in Ukraine then that’s a message to the aggressors everwhere that they may be able to get away with it too,” Blinken said at the meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers in New Delhi.
Blinken was speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2023 in Delhi themed “The Quad Squad: Power and Purpose of the Polygon,” where all Quad Foreign Ministers participated in-person.
“For us the future is so much in Indo-Pacific…Even as we are rightly focussed on what is happening in Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression, not just because it matters to Ukrainians and to Ukraine and Europe, but because it matters to the entire world,” Blinken added.
Earlier, Blinken said that he urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to end the Ukraine war and engage in meaningful diplomacy.
Addressing a press conference after the day-long deliberations at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting, Blinken, while referring to his brief unscheduled meeting with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the conference, said he told Lavrov to end the “war of aggression” and “engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and lasting peace”.
Blinken added that the Ukraine war “could end even tomorrow” if Russia wanted.