MOSCOW (AA) – The Russian military doctrine allows only defensive use of nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Speaking in an interview of the Russian Rossiya 1 TV channel, Lavrov called on public figures to refrain from statements that are artificially escalating the possibility of a nuclear war.

“I hope that those who constantly speculate on the issue of a nuclear war … are aware of their responsibility.

“I am appealing to all those that are interested in this situation and trying to cover it in the public space to refrain from artificially warming it up,” the minister said.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Western journalists ask Russian public figures to comment on statements of US and EU public figures about a nuclear threat and then represent it in such a way as if Russia threatens the world with a nuclear war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the statements about the possibility of a nuclear war at all in hopes to stop further speculat