NATO policy risks ‘direct clash’ between nuclear powers: Russia foreign minister

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that NATO was a “serious threat” to Russia, and the West’s positions risked a “direct clash between nuclear powers with catastrophic consequences.”

Lavrov also said he regretted that the US had rejected talks with Moscow over “strategic stability” – a host of issues related to nuclear weapons – and said that without direct talks between the world’s two largest nuclear powers, the risk to global security would only grow.