US, Britain and their NATO allies are pushing the world to brink of war with the militarisation of Europe and an arms race in space, senior Russian diplomats have claimed. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the US was using the threat posed by North Korea as a “pretext” for a buildup of weapons in Asia. And Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said efforts to reduce the number of nuclear warheads around the world would be fruitless unless the US agreed to row back on plans for a missile defence system. The NATO alliance, Mr Ryabkov said, was encroaching on Russia’s borders and warned of “inevitable and undesirable consequences” of an escalation in hostilities in the region. He predicted a “new arms race in space” unless relations between the two world superpowers improved.
Tensions between Moscow and the West have escalated amid a dispute with Ukraine over Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. The Brussels-based military bloc has vowed to increase its presence in the region to reassure its allies from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The move has prompted concerns in Russia that NATO is preparing itself for war. Mr Ryabkov said: “NATO members continue to build up their anti-missile potential in Europe as part of their so-called phased adaptive approach. “We have repeatedly expressed our concern over the placing of strategic infrastructure in the direct vicinity of our borders as this affects our interests in the security sphere. “Moscow will keep a close watch on the situation and will not cease its efforts to explain the inevitable and undesirable consequences of the American project’s realisation.”
The defiant comments hint at a deteriorating diplomacy between Washington and Moscow, after tense negotiations over Syria descended into chaos this week. Western observers say Russia has become increasingly belligerent and has been dragging its heels on any deals that could deescalate tensions. Earlier this year Kremlin officials rejected a US offer to negotiate a reduction in the stockpiles of nuclear weapons and President Vladimir Putin did not attend a Nuclear Security Summit hosted in Washington.
Much of the disagreement has been over a new missile shield stationed in eastern Europe which the US insists is aimed at stopping Iranian rockets rather than an attack by Russia. The planned US deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea has also raised suspicions that the US is attempting to expand its military capabilities. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister added: “Without finding a solution to the missile defence problem, without preventing a new arms race in space and making the nuclear test ban a universal treaty, without settling the issues connected with the lack of balance in conventional weapons, nuclear talks with the United States are impossible.”
