Senior Kremlin security official Dmitry Medvedev said that while the world is getting dangerous, Russia does not want a global conflict.
In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, triggering the largest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War, as U.S. envoys are trying to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Medvedev, who served as Russian president from 2008 to 2012, has also praised Trump, saying it was encouraging that contacts had resumed with Washington.
However, he has also hurled much criticism towards Ukraine and Western powers while warning of the risks of an escalation of the war towards a nuclear “apocalypse”.
"The situation is very dangerous," Medvedev told Reuters, TASS and the WarGonzo Russian war blogger in an interview at his residence outside Moscow.
"The pain threshold seems to be decreasing."
"We are not interested in a global conflict. We're not crazy,"
"A global conflict cannot be ruled out."
This comes as the New START treaty, signed in 2010 by former U.S. president Barack Obama and Medvedev, is set to expire on 5 February.
Russian officials have said they have had no official response from Washington on a proposal from President Vladimir Putin to stick to existing missile and warhead limits for one more year.
"I don't want to say that this immediately means a catastrophe and a nuclear war will begin, but it should still alarm everyone," Medvedev said.
“The (doomsday) clocks are ticking, and they obviously have to speed up.”
This would be the first time since the early 1970s that the world’s biggest nuclear powers would have no limits, according to Medvedev.
“When there is an agreement, it means there is trust, but when there is no agreement, it means that trust has been exhausted,” he said.
