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Doomsday Clock much closer to midnight — Medvedev

The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council believes that "the situation is even more tense" than it was during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. A nuclear conflict is a real scenario that should be prevented by all means, with the current situation being more tense than the one during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has said.

"There is no need to rush to safety right away, but however sad this may sound, this scenario is real," he said in an interview with Russian media when asked about the possibility of a nuclear war. "We must do our utmost to prevent it [the scenario] from happening, but the clock has accelerated and is now much closer to midnight (Doomsday Clock - TASS)," Medvedev said. He believes that "the situation is even more tense" than it was during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: "There was no conflict between Russia and America then, but now there is."

He also pointed to the "impotence of the Western authorities, who keep saying that Russia only utters threats, but that it will never do anything."

"They are wrong. If it comes to the existence of our country, what other choice will the leadership and the head of state be left with? None. Unfortunately, this is a real threat, a direct and clear threat to the whole of humanity," Medvedev said.

He pointed out that humanity eventually used all the weapons it created.

"Do the Americans think that once they delivered a strike - by the way, unnecessary at the time (in August 1945 - TASS) - on Japan, which was our common enemy, no one will ever draw this weapon out of the holster again? That's not the case. There can be many of motives," Medvedev said.

He also pointed to the risk of an unintentional start of a nuclear conflict.

"We must do everything to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, all full-fledged instruments of control and nuclear deterrence have now been ruined, for which, in our opinion, the Western countries are to blame, because even the last treaty [New START], which we signed with US President Barack Obama and which Russian President Vladimir Putin extended together with US President Joe Biden, has now exhausted itself. The other treaties are also practically inoperative," Medvedev said.

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Foreign policy Dmitry Medvedev

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