Russia says risk of nuclear conflict at highest level in decades

FILE PHOTO: Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Gennady Gatilov and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attend the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

(Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that the risk of a nuclear clash was at its highest level in decades, warning that Moscow was in a "de-facto" open conflict with Washington over the war in Ukraine.

Relations between Russia and the United States, long strained, have worsened even further since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. In February, Moscow pulled out of the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Washington.