May 21—Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov gave an interview to TASS May 19 in which he made a number of points:

• Strategic risks of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia are growing, which may have catastrophic consequences: Ryabkov highlighted “the escalatory narrative” from European capitals about “the looming threat of a high-intensity war” with Russia. “As a result of this escalation of tensions, including blatantly provocative moves in the nuclear sphere, strategic risks are increasing, as is the danger of a head-on clash between NATO and our country, with potentially catastrophic consequences as a result,” he warned.
• Russia cannot overlook NATO’s growing aggregate nuclear capabilities and will take due account of that in its military planning: “We cannot ignore the obvious strengthening of the nuclear component of NATO’s overall capabilities, which is in fact taking place as a result of Europe’s efforts to develop its own nuclear capabilities in addition to the corresponding US ‘nuclear umbrella,’” he said. This “cannot go unaddressed in terms of Russian military planning, in particular, with regard to France’s efforts under its new strategy of the so-called forward nuclear deterrence,” he stressed.
• Russia and the West currently lack the military-political foundation necessary for security dialogue, and Western countries must take Moscow’s core interests into account to create such conditions: “The basic political and military-political foundation” for a substantial mutually acceptable dialogue “simply does not exist, and it is impossible to build it unless our Western counterparts are willing to genuinely take Russia’s fundamental interests into account and reliably resolve key contradictions in the security field,” he said.
• The US is persistently trying to force China to join arms control talks despite Beijing’s unwillingness: “The very idea of multilateral arms control talks among nuclear powers is being thwarted by the US’ persistent desire to make China’s participation mandatory. At the same time, Beijing’s consistent position of not participating in such talks at this stage is being ignored,” Ryabkov noted. He cited in particular, the positions of the UK and France, both of which categorically rejected participating in a hypothetical conversation about limiting nuclear arsenals.

“The obstacles to launching a multilateral dialogue among nuclear powers on arms control... are complex and difficult to overcome,” Ryabkov concluded.

• Russia will use military and technical means to repel any threats to it: “Our ability to influence these discussions [within NATO] stems primarily from the warnings we are sending to our Western opponents on both sides of the Atlantic regarding the risks they are creating and Russia’s determination to counter any new threats posed to us through military and technical means. We do this regularly in the hope of cooling the ‘hot heads’ in NATO capitals,” Ryabkov told TASS.
• Russia will respond proportionately if any country conducts nuclear tests: “In any case, the current situation requires our national infrastructure to be prepared in the event that the United States takes steps toward full-scale nuclear testing. We state that if any country conducts nuclear tests, we will respond appropriately and in due proportion,” Ryabkov emphasized.