 Moscow. US senator wants nuclear war. Russia's ambassador to the US has accused Senator Lindsey Graham of trying to provoke a dangerous escalation between the two countries after the senior lawmaker urged the Pentagon to fire on Russian fighter jets. Asked about Graham's comments, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said the senator's call to shoot down Russian aircraft went far beyond common sense and risked all out war between the world's largest nuclear powers. This is by no means the first attempt by the notorious lawmaker to provoke a dangerous escalation in the US-Russian relations. A year ago he urged our citizens to make an assassination attempt on the president of Russia, he said. Does Senator Graham really believe that a direct military clash with Russia is in the interests of the voters who interested him with their lives and livelihoods? Is the Capitol willing to put American citizens and the international community at risk of a full-scale nuclear war? Give us an answer, distinguished senator, he said. Graham appeared on Fox News earlier to discuss a recent close encounter between Russian fighter jets and the US MQ-9 Reaper drone near Crimea, calling for a tough response from President Joe Biden after the UAV was sent plunging into the Black Sea. What would Ronald Reagan do right now? He would start shooting Russian planes down if they were threatening our assets. Graham told the outlet, referring to the US leader who served at the height of Cold War brinkmanship with the Soviet Union. While Antonov said it is a shame for the Pentagon to lose an expensive piece of equipment, he insisted, it is not the Russian pilots who should be called out, but rather American politicians who are inciting the start of an apocalyptic conflict.