Russia says confrontation with West is unparalleled in history

MOSCOW: The current confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine is unparalleled in history and a mistake could lead to catastrophe, a senior Russian diplomat said on Thursday when asked about comparisons to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The 2-1/2-year-old Ukraine war, the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two, has triggered a major confrontation between Russia and the West, and Russian officials say it is now entering its most dangerous phase to date.

Russian diplomats have previously invoked comparisons to the 1962 crisis when the Cold War superpowers are considered to have come closest to intentional nuclear war after Moscow secretly put missiles on Cuba.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Thursday: “What is happening has no analogues in the past.”

Ryabkov, who oversees arms control and relations with North America, told reporters in Moscow that the danger of an armed clash between the nuclear powers should not be underestimated. “We are moving through unexplored military and political territory,” he said.