Putin warns risk of new nuclear arms race

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast his country's sluggish economy in a positive light and criticized the United States for abandoning a Cold War-era nuclear arms treaties, saying that the risk of a devastating war should not be underestimated.

Putin made the remarks on December 20 in his annual press conference, an event he uses to burnish his image, reassure Russians that they are in good hands, and send signals to the United States and the rest of the world.

The televised press conference, which usually lasts up to four hours or more, is being held at a time when tensions with the West are high and his ratings have fallen early in his six-year fourth term.

"The danger of the situation escalating is being downplayed," he said in response to a question about fears of nuclear war.

Putin expressed the hope that humankind would have enough common sense to "not to go to extremes." He also warned that the lowering of thresholds relating to nuclear capability "could really lead us to catastrophe."

Russia has criticized the US over the Trump administration's plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, saying it risks the breakdown of international arms-control agreements.

Asked about Russia's detention of Ukrainian sailors in the Kerch Strait last month, Putin laid the blame for increased military tensions at the door of the Ukrainian government.

The Ukrainian servicemen's action was a provocation designed to boost domestic support for President Petro Poroshenko ahead of elections in the country next year, he said.

Putin also pointed the finger at Kiev for the suffering of ordinary citizens in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

"Who do you think imposed the economic blockade on Donbas? The Ukrainian government," he said. "They are shooting at their citizens which they believe are Ukrainian citizens. Every day peaceful men and women are dying."

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in long-simmering conflict since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, and a war with Russian-backed separatists in the country's east has claimed more than 10,000 lives.