GENEVA, February 25. /TASS/. Washington’s new doctrinal guidelines considerably lower the threshold of using nuclear weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the Disarmament Conference on Tuesday.

"We note with concern that Washington’s new doctrinal guidelines considerably lower the threshold of nuclear weapons use. Notably, this is taking place amid the US official refusal to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and also in conditions of the persistent deployment of US nuclear weapons on the territory of some NATO allies and the continued practice of the so-called joint nuclear missions," Russia’s top diplomat stated.

Now it has come to the conduct of drills by the US, which practice the use of nuclear weapons against targets on the Russian territory. Europeans are also drawn into these exercises, Lavrov added.

Gorbachev-Reagan formula of impossibility to win nuclear war

Moscow has called on the United States to confirm — or better, enhance — the Gorbachev-Reagan formula that says there are no winners in a nuclear war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

"In order to reduce artificial tensions and maintain opportunities for strategic dialogue, we have suggested confirming — or even better, enhancing — the Gorbachev-Reagan formula, which says that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed," Lavrov pointed out. "We believe that in the current situation, such a move would mean a positive sign for the entire international community. However, eighteen months have passed, and Washington has not yet responded to the initiative," the Russian top diplomat added.

According to former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the formula emphasizing the need to prevent nuclear war was enshrined in a joint statement issued at the Moscow talks between him and then US Vice President George H. W. Bush ahead of the 1986 Reykjavik Summit involving then US President Ronald Reagan. The statement also said that none of the parties would seek military superiority over the other.