Russia warned the lame-duck Biden administration on Wednesday to stop its "spiral of escalation" over the war in Ukraine despite Washington's insistence to pursue a nuclear gambit, or "casino game."
"The signal is very clear and it's obvious — stop it. You should not do this anymore. You should not provide Kyiv with everything it wants. You should not encourage Kyiv to further military adventures. They are way too dangerous," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told RT in a statement to the United States.
Ryabkov then added that "it's the most dangerous illusion" for the U.S., NATO, and other countries supporting Ukraine to "entertain the notion that it would be possible at some moment to defeat Russia strategically. The nuclear power cannot be defeated."
"We still have sufficient tools at our hand" on "how to respond to this elevated spiral of confrontation with military means."
Ryabkov concluded his statement with: "We do not believe the time for arguments — and our message in political and diplomatic terms is over." He then added that it is the views of Russia's military and its President Vladimir Putin that the "time has come" for "making our relevant views heard, and imposed if you wish" by means of its missiles.
The deputy foreign minister's statement followed the U.S. deployment of the long-range ATACMS weapon system in Ukraine. Putin has said that the Ukrainian military is incapable of operating such equipment.
After ATACMS missiles were launched from Ukraine to Russia's interior, Moscow responded by launching a hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
In the past week, the development of events thus far has included Putin lowering the response threshold for a nuclear strike.
Ryabkov described in ambiguous terms that while diplomacy was over, lines of communication between Moscow and Washington remained open.
"I am sure you understand," Ryabkov told the news anchor, "that this was a stabilizing factor in the very dangerous situation in which we currently find ourselves. We are committed to this practice and we hope that the United States will also be committed to it.
"We also hope that such actions will help reduce the risks of miscalculation or dangerous mistakes."