ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. Nuclear war does not appear imminent, however, there are negative trends, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). She added that in other countries the public are being misled about a threat of such a war supposedly coming from Russia.
"Personally, I don't feel like [we are on the verge of nuclear war], but the trends are not good," she said when asked about this possibility.
Matviyenko stated that as long as there is no threat to Russia’s very existence, the country "will never use nuclear weapons." "But if there is a real threat to the existence of our state, a serious threat to our security and sovereignty, then, of course, we will use the entire arsenal, all the capabilities we have," she emphasized.
"We have not done anything bad to anyone, we have not attacked anyone, unlike the United States," Matviyenko continued, pointing out that the US has staged "color revolutions" in many countries. According to her, there are enough countries in the world "that have had enough of America."
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is being held on June 5-8. This year’s theme is "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." Scheduled events include meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the information partner of the event.