(MENAFN) Russia has criticized Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken for what it called irresponsible rhetoric after he suggested NATO could “wipe Moscow off the map.”

In an interview which was published on Monday, Francken dismissed concerns that the paused delivery of US-made Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine might trigger a full-scale war between Russia and NATO. He argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not resort to nuclear weapons because the alliance “will wipe Moscow off the map,” adding that he was unconcerned about a conventional attack on Brussels since it would result in Moscow being “flattened.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko told Russian news outlet on Wednesday that Francken’s comments reflected “the atmosphere of military psychosis” in Western Europe.

The Russian Embassy in Belgium condemned the minister’s statements as “provocative and irresponsible,” calling them “sheer absurdity and total disconnect from reality.”

“Francken’s escapades are the most glaring manifestation of the militarist frenzy that is increasingly consuming the European war party,” the embassy said, adding that EU officials like him “pose a threat to the continent’s future and [are] capable of plunging it into a new war.”

Moscow has consistently warned that the influx of Western weapons into Ukraine will not halt its operations but will instead risk further escalation.

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