US-Russia chill stirs worry about stumbling into conflict

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deep chill in U.S.-Russian relations is stirring concern in some quarters that Washington and Moscow are in danger of stumbling into an armed confrontation that, by mistake or miscalculation, could lead to nuclear war.

American and European analysts and current and former U.S. military officers say the superpowers need to talk more.

The United States and Russia say that in August they’ll leave the 1987 treaty that banned an entire class of nuclear weapons. And there appears to be little prospect of extending the 2010 treaty that limits each side’s strategic nuclear weapons.

Unlike during the Cold War, when generations lived under threat of a nuclear Armageddon, the two militaries are barely on speaking terms.