Putin warns: Don’t underestimate nuclear war threat

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned that the threat of nuclear war should not be underestimated, saying it could result in the “collapse of the entire civilization and maybe our planet.”

“The danger of the situation is being downplayed,” Putin told reporters at a press conference when asked about the threat of nuclear war, according to CNBC. 

“It now seems to be impossible, something without crucial importance, but at the same time if something like this would happen this would lead to the collapse of the entire civilization and maybe our planet. So this is an important question,” he added.

Putin also said there is a “trend to underestimate the current situation.”

“There are dangers, there are risks in our day-to-day lives. What are those risks? First and foremost, the collapse of the international system of arms control, of moving away from an arms race,” he said.

Putin on Thursday also criticized the U.S. for withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a nuclear deal that Washington and Moscow agreed to during the Cold War.

When President Trump announced the U.S. would pull out of that deal in October, the Trump administration accused Russia of violating it.

“Now they’re making another step and they are withdrawing from the INF treaty so what’s going to come out of that? It’s hard to imagine what will come next,” Putin said Thursday, according to CNBC.