“Recall that, in accordance with the terms of the preamble to the treaty, the United States signed up to the fact that – and I quote – “work to strengthen new strategic relations based on mutual trust, openness, predictability and cooperation”, and also (I quote again) “are guided by the principle of indivisible security, ”RIA Novosti quotes Ryabkov.

According to him, these provisions are being cynically violated by Washington's actions aimed at resolving the so-called "Russian question" through frontal-aggressive containment.

He added that this containment is teetering on the brink of a direct military clash between Russia and the US and NATO.

Earlier, Ryabkov, in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, said that Russia would not forcibly keep the United States in the New START Treaty.