Russia said on Tuesday that it still had an emergency hotline with the United States and the NATO military alliance to deflate crises as nuclear risks rise amid the gravest confrontation between Moscow and West since the depths of the Cold War.

Amid ongoing high-level meetings between NATO leaders and Ukrainian officials at the United Nations over plans to allow Ukraine to strike Russian cities with NATO weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined Wednesday a proposed update to Russia’s nuclear policy document that would expand the conditions under which Russia would use nuclear weapons.

Russia has issued a stark warning to NATO, threatening "catastrophic consequences" if the military alliance continues its activities in the Arctic.

Russia announced it still maintains a direct crisis hotline with the United States and NATO, as nuclear risks rise during the most intense standoff between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. The original "red phone" hotline between Moscow and Washington was set up in 1963 to prevent miscommunication after the Cuban Missile Crisis.