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Russia said Wednesday that nuclear weapons are the "only" protection preventing the world from sliding into a global war, as the last nuclear arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington expired without a replacement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remarks at a foreign policy forum in Moscow, warning that the global security system was "eroding."
"In fact, we have nothing left in this world apart from nuclear deterrence. It's the only thing that protects the world from a global war," Peskov said.
His comments came amid fears of a renewed multi-country arms race after the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) treaty between Russia and the United States expired in February.
New START was the last nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States, two of the world's largest nuclear powers.
Its expiration removed restrictions on both countries, and there have been no signs so far that either side is moving to renew or replace the accord.
The lapse came even though Russia and the United States agreed to re-establish high-level military talks.
The expiration of New START marked the first time in decades that no treaty has been in force to limit the deployment of nuclear weapons.
Signed in 2010, New START was the last in a series of Cold War-era arms control agreements.
It restricted Moscow and Washington to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each.
Before the treaty lapsed, both countries repeatedly accused each other of failing to adhere to the deal.
Peskov said the erosion of the global security system had left nuclear deterrence as the main safeguard against a wider war.
Peskov also warned that technological development could lead to new types of non-nuclear weapons with destructive power comparable to nuclear arms.
"As technology is developing, it is already clear that new types of non-nuclear weapons will emerge, but they may eventually match nuclear weapons in destructive power," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly used nuclear rhetoric throughout Russia's four-year offensive on Ukraine.
That rhetoric has drawn accusations of reckless saber-rattling from Europe and the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed for a new nuclear arms treaty that would include China.
China's nuclear arsenal is growing but remains far smaller than those of Russia and the United States.
Beijing has publicly rejected the pressure to join any such agreement.
Moscow says that if China is included in a new deal, then Washington's nuclear allies, Britain and France, should also be brought into the agreement.
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