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2nd November 2022
06:49pm GMT

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it is worried 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 US, China, Britain and France in January affirming their collective responsibility for avoiding a nuclear war, the Mail reports.
"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.
This is despite Russian President Vladimir Putin hinting on a number of occasions recently that he would not rule out using nuclear weapons in the conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow has also repeatedly said its military doctrine permits the use of nuclear weapons if Russia's territorial integrity is under threat.
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