Globe’s five nuclear superpowers are ‘on the brink of armed conflict’

Moscow says the West is "encouraging" the use of nuclear weapons

Russia has claimed that the world's nuclear superpowers are "on the brink of armed conflict." On Wednesday, the Kremlin said that its first priority was avoiding a nuclear conflict with the other nuclear powers in the world. However, Moscow accuses the West of "encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction." The West meanwhile says that Russia is behind the ramping up of nuclear rhetoric since their invasion of Ukraine in February. The five nuclear superpowers are the US, Russia, the UK, France and China.

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.

Related links:

• US could assassinate Vladimir Putin if Russia uses nuclear weapon in Ukraine, John Bolton claims
• Former CIA director says US would destroy Russia's entire military if Putin uses nuclear weapons
• Experts predict five billion people will die if a nuclear war erupts between Russia and the US