Russia warns more involvement of US in Ukraine will lead to 'clash between nuclear powers'

Russia's deputy foreign ministry Sergey Ryabkov has said that the more US gets involved in Ukraine, the higher the chances are of a clash between major nuclear powers. US has been constantly supporting Ukraine with arms and ammunition, along with crucial intelligence, which has helped Ukraine to target top Russian military commanders, according to reports from The Economist. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin also stated back in August that Washington's goal in Ukraine was to use the opportunity to damage Russia's military capabilities. 

"The logic of the current situation is simple: the more the US is involved in supporting the Kiev regime on the battlefield, the more it becomes a party to the military confrontation with Russia, and thus risks provoking a direct armed clash between the largest nuclear powers, fraught with catastrophic consequences," Ryabkov told Sputnik.  

He further said that the US is attempting to raise the stakes in Ukraine because US believes it has the ability to control the escalation ladder without harming itself. He reportedly added that the US will continue with its current policy of using Ukraine as the tip of the spear, to damage Russia and added that Ukrainians play the "role of hostages and victims" in this war. 

History of US-Russia nuclear brinkmanship 

The deputy foreign ministry talked about the Cuban Missile Crisis, when two nuclear powers, USA and Russia came to the brink of nuclear confrontation, as a result of the US establishing missile launch centres near the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union in response, setting up missiles in Cuba. The transportation of missiles to Cuba was considered a redline by America. Several US foreign policy analysts, advised John F Kennedy, who was the US President at that time, to attack Russia. John F Kennedy called Russia's move irrationally provocative and remarked "imagine us doing something like that to them". At that time, the US Secretary of Defence informed the US President (Kennedy) that the US does have missile launch centres near the USSR's border. After that, intense negotiations were carried out, which entailed the USSR removing its missiles from Cuba and US removing its missiles from the USSR border.