Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Monday that NATO was a “severe menace” to Russia, and the West’s positions risked a “direct conflict between nuclear powers with catastrophic penalties.”

Learn extra: Scientist who labored at China’s Wuhan lab says Covid was man-made: Report

Lavrov additionally stated he regretted that the US had rejected talks with Moscow over “strategic stability” – a number of points associated to nuclear weapons – and stated that with out direct talks between the world’s two largest nuclear powers, the danger to world safety would solely develop.