Nuclear crisis is unavoidable without arms control, says Russia

Tensions have soared in recent weeks, as the United States and its NATO allies expressed fear that Moscow planned to invade its ex-Soviet neighbour

Russia said on Thursday that a nuclear missile crisis between Moscow and Washington was unavoidable without measures to ensure restraint and predictability, the TASS news agency reported.

Vladimir Ermakov, a senior Russian foreign ministry official, said Moscow thought the United States was preparing to deploy short and intermediate range missiles to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the report said.

The US rejection of Russia's main demands to resolve the crisis over Ukraine leaves little ground for optimism, the Kremlin spokesman said Thursday, while adding that dialogue was still possible.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks, as the United States and its