Western policy of containing Russia could cause clash of nuclear powers: Lavrov

A Russian RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system rolls down the Red Square during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia, May 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

There can be no winners in a nuclear war, which must never be unleashed, Lavrov said.

MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Western policy of containing Russia is extremely dangerous and fraught with risk of a direct armed clash between nuclear powers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

"Irresponsible speculation" that Russia is about to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine is unceasingly unfolding in the West, Lavrov said in an interview with TASS news agency published on Tuesday.

"We are talking about something completely different: the West's policy of comprehensive containment of our country is extremely dangerous. It carries the risk of sliding into a direct armed clash of nuclear powers," he said.

Moscow has repeated over and over again that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, which must never be unleashed, Lavrov added.

Western politicians are sharpening their rhetoric on the issue of a nuclear war and it is them who should be asked whether this topic will continue in 2023, he noted.

The Russian top diplomat expressed "deep concern over the propaganda bacchanalia" in the United States and Western countries in general regarding nuclear weapons.