'Destroyed' US-Russia Ties May Threaten Global Peace - German Foreign Minister

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in an interview published Sunday told media outlet Bild am Sonntag what perils he sees for the modern world amid strained situation around North Korea's launches and the US attempts to undermine Iran nuclear deal.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Amid the potential proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world, mounting tensions between Moscow and Washington endanger the current world order, Sigmar Gabriel said.

"Completely destroyed relations between the United States and Russia are the biggest threat to peace on the planet. If North Korea can acquire nuclear weapons, many others will follow. Only the United States and Russia can work together to prevent the further proliferation of nuclear weapons," the foreign minister added.

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In the event that US-Russian relations did not improve, the world would be "dangerous, chaotic [and] … filled with nuclear weapons," according to Gabriel.

In this regard, the German foreign minister stressed that the policy of Donald Trump might also contribute to instability in the world, since increased US spending on the defense sector and reduced expenditures on cooperation for development had the potential to create millions of new refugees.

Relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated since 2014, amid the crisis in Ukraine and Crimea's reunification with Russia, after which Washington and its allies imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia. Recently tensions between two countries have run high anew as the US closed Russian diplomatic compounds in San Francisco and Washington, DC, stirring up a diplomatic scandal.