Washington: The US State Department called Russian president Putin’s warning of nuclear risk ‘irresponsible’, adding there was no sign of greater risk, news agency AFP reported.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Putin was not making ‘irresponsible rhetoric’ for the first time.
‘It is no way for the leader of a nuclear-armed state to speak,’ Matthew Miller was quoted as saying.
Miller said that communicating privately and directly with Russia in the past revealed no sign of the country preparing for a nuclear war.
‘We have communicated in the past privately and directly with Russia about the consequences of the use of a nuclear weapon,’ he reportedly said.
Addressing the nation Thursday, Putin threatened the West with ‘tragic consequence’ in the event of any country sending troops into Ukraine against Russia.
‘Everything that the West comes up with creates the real threat of a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and thus the destruction of civilization,’ he was quoted as saying.