MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russia said on Wednesday that avoiding a nuclear clash between the world’s nuclear powers was its first priority, but accused the West of “encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it feared the five declared nuclear powers were teetering “on the brink of a direct armed conflict” and that the West must stop “encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction, which can lead to catastrophic consequences”.
“We are strongly convinced that in the current complicated and turbulent situation, caused by irresponsible and impudent actions aimed at undermining our national security, the most immediate task is to avoid any military clash of nuclear powers,” the ministry said in a statement.
Moscow said it stood by a joint declaration issued together with the United States, China, Britain and France in January affirming their joint responsibility for avoiding a nuclear war.
“We fully reaffirm our commitment to the joint statement of the five nuclear-weapon states’ leaders on the prevention of nuclear war and the avoidance of an arms race from Jan. 3, 2022,” the ministry said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a message to participants in a world thematic conference of Russian compatriots residing overseas, dubbed ‘Economic Cooperation: Responding to Challenges of the Time’, the United States and its allies keep struggling against the formation of a multipolar world order and developments in Ukraine are part of that standoff.
“Developments in Ukraine are not just another regional conflict but part of the ongoing fight for a future world order. We can see the United States and the U.S.-led Western minority consistently trying to slow down the objective formation of a multipolar world order, particularly by promoting the concept of a rule-based order. Today, Western leaders openly admit it, speculating about their exceptionalism and superiority over other civilizations,” Lavrof emphasized, TASS reported.
He pointed to an unprecedented rise in geopolitical tensions, noting that after the launch of a special military operation in Ukraine, “unfriendly countries started a full-fledged hybrid war against Russia”.
“Its goal is to defeat us on the battlefield, undermine the Russian economy, shatter domestic political stability and remove Russia from its position as one of the world’s leading powers,” the top diplomat noted.
No one will be able to stop the Russian economy or undermine political stability in the country, Lavrov said.
“It is safe to say that no one will ever be able to stop the Russian economy or undermine domestic political stability,” Lavrov pointed out.