Kremlin dismisses claims that Russia is stoking nuclear rhetoric

MOSCOW, Nov 17 (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Friday said claims that Russia was ready to unleash nuclear war were “unacceptable madness” and part of what it cast as a quasi-war being waged by the West against Russia.

“I consider this absolutely unacceptable madness,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with a student television station, referring to what he said were “insane accusations” that Russia was ready to start a nuclear war.

Russia and the United States are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers.

Kremlin’s Peskov hopes Putin runs for another term as president

Meanwhile, Peskov said in an interview published on Friday that he hoped President Vladimir Putin would run in the March election for another term as Russian president, a move that would keep the Kremlin chief in power until at least 2030.

Putin, who was handed the presidency by Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already been in power for longer than any other Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, beating even Leonid Brezhnev’s 18-year tenure.

Asked by the student television channel of Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO) what the next president after Putin should be like, Peskov said: “The same.”

“Or different but the same,” Peskov added with a smile.

“Putin has not yet announced his intention to run but I sincerely want to believe that he will do that, and I have no doubt that he will win the elections. I have no doubt that he will continue to be president.”

Reuters reported earlier this month that Putin has decided to run in the March election, as the Kremlin chief feels he must steer Russia through the most perilous period in decades.