Russia said on Wednesday that its decision to suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States did not increase the risk of nuclear war.
President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday he was freezing Russia's participation in the treaty during a speech in which he also repeated accusations that the West was seeking to destroy Russia.
"I do not believe that the decision to suspend the New START Treaty brings us closer to nuclear war," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to the Interfax news agency.