UK warns of nuclear war risk from cutting off China and russia

The West risks entering into a nuclear conflict with China or russia due to a "breakdown of communication" between the western countries and the two states

British National Security Adviser Stephen Lovegrove warned about this during a speech in Washington.

As Sir Lovegrove noted, the erosion of shadow communication channels increased the likelihood of an accidental escalation into war.

Britain's national security adviser said he believed the deterioration of communications with China and russia created a higher risk of "rapid escalation to strategic conflict."

"The Cold War's two monolithic blocks of the USSR and NATO—though not without alarming bumps—were able to reach a shared understanding of doctrine that is today absent. 

Doctrine is opaque in Moscow and Beijing, let alone Pyongyang or Tehran," he emphasized.

"During the Cold War, we benefited from a series of negotiations and dialogues that improved our understanding of Soviet doctrine and capabilities—and vice versa.

This gave us both a higher level of confidence that we would not miscalculate our way into nuclear war," the national security adviser emphasized.

"We are not on equal footing today with others who may threaten us in the future, particularly with China. Today, we do not have the same foundations with others who may threaten us in the future—particularly with China," Adviser Lovegrove said.

Britain's national security adviser praised the White House's decision to resume cooperation with China, highlighting technological progress risks.

"We have clear concerns about China's nuclear modernization program that will increase both the number and types of nuclear weapon systems in its arsenal," he said.

Despite the heightened risks, Lovegrove said much of the existing security architecture remains "vital," such as the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

However, he added that the reality was that "current structures alone will not deliver what we need a modern arms control system to achieve."

The former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Defense also spoke about the war in Ukraine.

"We recently passed the grim milestone of 150 days since putin launched this unprovoked, illegal war, bringing untold suffering to the innocent people of Ukraine," he emphasized.

"I'm afraid the conflict fits a pattern of russia acting deliberately and recklessly to undermine the global security architecture. 

That's a pattern that includes the illegal annexation of Crimea, the use of chemical and radiological weapons on UK soil, and the repeated violations that caused the collapse of the INF Treaty [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, ed.]," Sir Lovegrove noted.

"And we will continue to hold russia to account for its destabilizing actions as an international community," he added.

Read Rubryka's daily timeline of war: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.